


Remember Me

by hardbroken17



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Aged Up, Childhood Friendship Sunset Curve, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Good Person Carrie Wilson, Julie is Reggie’s sister, Luke doesn’t remember Julie, Luke is a Tease, M/M, Protective Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Reunion, Salty Flynn, Slow Burn, Soft Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Soft Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Sunset Curve is already famous, Trevor is the manager, Willie and Alex being cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:02:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28680792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardbroken17/pseuds/hardbroken17
Summary: Julie Molina lives in New York, and her new neighbors are familiar. When she is pulled to a party by her roommates, Carrie and Flynn, she runs into three blasts from the past, two of whom remember her, and one, who doesn’t.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Reggie Peters/Carrie Wilson
Comments: 30
Kudos: 118





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve always wanted to do an aged up fic for JATP  
> Enjoy 😊

Julie Molina was used to loss in her life, loosing her mom, Rose to cancer when she was sixteen, leaving her childhood home in Los Angeles the same year, to go and live with her Tia’ Victoria, in New York, and most of all, having to say goodbye to her adoptive brother Reggie, and his best friends, from her childhood, whom she had grown up hanging out with, in her mom’s studio.

She remembered the day that she left, her Tia’ in the house, talking with her dad, and the boys helping her load up her stuff, into the Uhaul. She jumped down from the ledge, and looked at her boys, giving Reggie a big hug, tears falling down her face, as she burrowed her head into his shoulder, the smell of leather, cotton, and cookies lingering around him, as it always did.

Then Alex, her best friend and confidant, who gave the best hugs, wrapped her up in his strong arms. When Julie hugged Alex, she felt safe, like nothing could harm her in any way, if she had Alex. He smelled of lavender lotion, laundry soap, and pine, as she smiled into the pink hoodie that he wore, the clasps of his black leather fanny pack pressing against her breasts, his blonde locks of hair tickling her nose, like they always did, and made her sneeze most of the time they hugged. 

She never wanted to stop hugging Alex, but when she finally did, Julie’s feet hit her driveway again, and she turned to Luke. Luke was her best friend, and was always there for her, much like Alex, but in a different way, Luke pulled Julie to him, and held her close to his chest, the girl holding onto his sleeveless shirt dear life. She pressed her face into Luke’s shoulder, and felt his heartbeat against hers, as she inhaled his smell. She could easily find the boys based on the way that they smelled, and Julie was always able to find Luke by the smell of sweat, cotton, and the sweet smelling cologne that he wore. Luke was always open to give Julie hugs, and in her opinion, he gave the best ones.   
  
She finally let go of Luke, as her dad and Tia’ came out of the house, and told her that it was time to go. Julie got into the front seat of the truck, and looked back at the boys. Reggie and Alex were waving to her, but Luke still looked sad, and Julie couldn’t stand that look on his puppy dog face. 

She jumped out of the truck, and ran to him, and have him one last hug, kissing the side of his face, and holding his hands in hers. 

”Promise me you’ll keep in touch?” She asked and Luke nodded, and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.   
  
“Of course Jules” He said and let go of her. Julie ran back to the truck, and as she drive away, kept waving to her boys out the window, until she turned the right corner, and she couldn’t see them anymore.   
  
That had been the last time Julie had seen them. Alex was the first one to lose contact, when he got a new phone number. Then Luke, when he started dating a girl his age, named Kristen. Reggie however, kept in touch with Julie as long as he could, but eventually, Julie lost touch with her own brother, when she was a sophomore in college, and something happened to them, that they only sent birthday calls, and texts to each other. When Julie was a junior, she had officially lost all contact with her family on the West Coast, maybe due to the time difference, or they just forgot about her. She didn’t know, and tried to get over it, graduating and moving to the city, moving in with two girls her age, a girl named Carrie Wilson, and another girl, Flynn, who’s last name escaped Julie every time. 


	2. Party Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carrie and Flynn drag Julie along to a party at a club, in the city  
> Music, and confusion, ensues...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like making at least one character incredibly salty, and have no respect for boundaries.

Julie was coming home, to her apartment when Carrie opened the door, and smiled when she saw the light brown skinned girl, her curly blonde locks twisted into a high bun, and her foundation makeup still setting.

“Hey Carrie, what’s up?” Julie said and followed Carrie down the hall, and into the bathroom, that Julie shared with her, and their other roommate, Flynn.

“What’s up is that you, Flynn and I are gonna go to a party. It’s at the White Wolf club and bar, a few blocks down, and a new band from LA is playing there tonight.” Carrie said, and opened her blush, and picked up a brush. Julie was used to Carrie being bubbly and exited, and that was one of the things she liked about her, but this was like Carrie on crack.

“Why are we going to this party again?” Julie asked and Carrie turned to her, and put down her makeup, looking her up and down, before reaching over, and turning on the shower, pushing a robe and towels into Julie’s hands, and pushed her out of the bathroom.

“Get undressed and take a shower. I’ll do your makeup, and Flynn will do your outfit.” She called and Julie sighed, and did as Carrie said, taking a shower, washing her hair and Carrie then took over, drying and doing Julie’s makeup. When Carrie had Julie on the counter, applying her mascara, the door opened and the two girls heard Flynn come into the apartment.

“Sup’ bitches? Carrie, did you get Julie into makeup yet?” Flynn asked, noticing Julie’s keys on there hook, as she walked down the hall, and into the bathroom.

“In here Flynn.” Carrie and Julie said in unison, and Flynn walked in, flipping one her braids behind her shoulder. She saw Julie, sitting on the counter, and gasped.

“Damn girl, you look fine!” She said as Carrie put away Julie’s mascara, and took out her blush, and began to apply.

“This is why you girls are so lucky to have me. I did go to beauty school.” Carrie said and Flynn rolled her eyes at the blonde, leaning against the doorway.

“Yeah sure Carrie, so are we going to talk about who gets to bring someone home tonight?” She asked and Julie shot her eyebrows up at Flynn, and Carrie merely looked over at the girl, in the doorway.

“Flynn, Jesus Christ are you serious?” Julie asked and Flynn shrugged, putting her hands up in a defensive way.

“Hey, I just wanted to check, cause last time, Carrie brought a random guy here, while I was trying to sleep.” She said and Carrie scoffed at her roommate.

“Ok, I’m sorry. But who should it be?” She asked and Flynn shrugged her shoulders, smirking at Julie.

“Who hasn’t brought someone here since we moved in together?” She asked and Julie shook her head at her friend.

“No, not me. I’m don’t have any intentions to bring a guy home.” She said and Flynn threw her hands up.

“Oh my god, come on Jules! Your sex life is so DOA that it makes me depressed.” She said and Julie rolled her eyes, as Carrie put in her eyeshadow, with her eyes closed.

“Flynn, I just don’t have a sex drive right now, ok? It’s completely normal.” She said and Carrie closed the purple eyeshadow with a loud snap, and put it in the bag.

“Flynn’s right Julie, you need to get some tension off your chest. Even if it is just a meaningless one night stand with a guy that you will never see afterwards, and who’s name, you will never learn.” She said and Julie slumped, as Carrie looked at Flynn, and back to her, opening Julie’s dark red lipstick.

“How about we make a bet?” Flynn asked, and Carrie nodded, Julie pursing her lips for the blonde, applying lipstick.

“If Julie can bring a guy home, we will give her twenty bucks.” Flynn said, and Julie shook her head, the other girl changing her terms of her and Carrie’s bet.

“Twenty bucks each.” She said as Carrie closed the tube of lipstick, and put it away, Julie now done with makeup, both girls turning, to face Flynn, with a smile on her face.

“And if you two lose, and I don’t bring a guy home?” Julie asked and this time, Carrie answered her.

“We stop taking about your sex life and get the groceries for a month.” She said and Julie looked form one roommate to the other, and shook each of their hands.

“Done deal.” She said and Flynn smirked, grabbing her hand, and dragging her into her room, so that she could get dressed. Julie and Flynn came out if Julie’s room, all ready for the party, and found Carrie in the living room, sitting in the couch, in a black pencil skirt, and a white top, with a silk pink shirt over it, that was see through, and a pair of silver heels were on her feet. Her curly blonde hair was pulled into a side ponytail, and she had a white trench coat hung over her arm, her soft, pink eyeshadow on, and red lipstick made her outfit tie together.

“Damn Carrie, you look great.” Julie said and Carrie smiled, and stood up, to look at Julie and Flynn, who also looked great.

“You girls too, let’s get going.” She said and Julie and Flynn followed her out the door, and to her car, in the parking garage. They drive to the White Wolf, and before they went in, did Rock Paper Scissors, for the designated driver home, after the party. Carrie lost, and they went into the club, that was bubbling in anticipation, for the band, that would play.

“What is the band that’s playing tonight?” Julie asked and Carrie shrugged her shoulders, as they walked over to the bar.

“I don’t remember their name, Sunset Something, all I know is that my uncle is their manager. They made it big at the Orpheum a few years ago, and were signed to Wilson Records. I think they’re around our age, or a year older, and that there’s three of them, a drummer, bassist, and a lead electric guitarist.” She said, as the lights dimmed, and a voice came over the speakers, as a man, with black hair, and a leather jacket came onstage, mic in his hands.

“Hello everyone, my name is Trevor Wilson, and it is my pleasure to welcome to the stage, of the White Wolf, the rock band, Sunset Curve!” He said and Carrie turned to Julie, who had just been put into shock at the name of the band, and recognition of the drums, set up on the stage, and the personalized amps.

“Right, it was Sunset Curve.” She said, as the band came onstage.

“Holy shit, it can’t be?” Julie said and Carrie made a confused face at her, as Julie looked up, at the men onstage.

“Thank you everyone. We’re Sunset Curve, and this is Now or Never.” The man with the blue guitar said into his mic, not noticing that Julie was standing right in front of him, looking up, at her childhood best friends, and her older brother, all grown up, and living their dreams.

“Julie Molina, are you ok?” Carrie asked, tugging on Julie’s arm, as the band was about to start playing Now or Never. Julie turned to her friend, and pointed to the men onstage, her eyes blown wide, at Carrie.

“What are their names?” She asked and Carrie looked to the band, and put a finger to her chin, thinking.

“The drummer’s name is Alexander Mercer, the bassist is Reginald Peters, and the lead guitarist and singer is Luke Patterson. Why do you ask? Do you know them or something?” She asked and Julie’ breath got caught in her throat, at the sounds of her boy’s names.

“Or something.” She said, as Alex counted the them off, and Luke began to sing a song that Julie vaguely remembered helping him write, before she left LA.

“Take off, last stop, Countdown till be blast open the top...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carrie is a beauty school graduate, that just seemed fitting.  
> Trevor is her uncle, also fitting.


	3. Do you not remember me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie reunites with the boys of Sunset Curve, but when it comes to Luke, there is a small setback...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like the idea vaguely that Julie remembers the boys, but at least one of them, doesn’t remember her...

Julie had never been more shocked, amazed, and happy a a long time. As she watched her boys play onstage, her heart soared, but also made it hurt, as she remembered what had happened to her and her boys. She remembered how much it had hurt her when she came back to her dorm room in in college, pulled out her phone, and called Alex, seeking words of support, and he didn’t answer, even as she tried dozens of times, to get ahold of him. Eventually, she gave up and stopped trying to reach out, when her texts weren’t delivered, and her calls wouldn’t go through. She hated that she had lost contact with Alex, and was so sure that he wouldn’t shut her out, but she didn’t talk to Reggie or Luke about it, as contact with them was becoming less and less.

“Face first, Full charge, Electric hammer to the heart,”

Luke sang into his mic, playing his guitar like there was no tomorrow, Reggie bouncing around the stage, on the balls of his feet, Alex drumming loud, a smile on his face. Julie smiled, despite the thousands of thoughts going through her head. Thoughts of fun, memories, and more, like when she still lived in LA, and when she had helped the boys start up Sunset Curve. The black spray painted banner, that hung behind the drums, jolted memories in Julie, of days spent in the studio, with Carlos, Reggie, and Luke.  
  
Her brother and Alex working on the band’s logo, and her, and Luke curled up on the couch, writing music. Memories of that day in the summer, when Alex came over to the Molina’s, with a box of spray paint cans, and a black banner, and they spent the rest of the day creating the band’s logo on it, in rainbow colors, even though Luke wanted it to just be white over black, Julie convinced him, with an arm wrestling match, and it was spray painted the way that it hung behind the drums and Alex, who was now singing the chorus with Luke and Reggie, smiles all around.

“Clocks move faster cause, It’s all we’re after now,

Won’t stop climbing cause, This is our time yeah,

When all the days felt black and white, Those were the best shades of my life,

Don’t look down, Cause we’re still rising, Up right now,

And even if we, Hit the ground, We’ll still fly,

Keep dreaming like we’ll live forever, But live it like it’s Now or Never,”

Julie found herself lost in the sound of Luke’s voice, just like she used to, when they were teenagers, and he and the boys would jam together, in the studio, her mom, Rose bringing them snacks, and giving the boys advice on some of their songs, while Reggie would stuff his mouth full of food, and thank his adoptive mom. She missed those days, when life was so simple, before her mom got sick, and she would have Alex, with an arm around her every day, and Luke would hold her in his arms, on the couch, watching Netflix, Reggie popping popcorn, to make his sister feel better. Julie hardly knew that she had spaced out, until she felt Carrie bump into her.  
  
“Hey Jules, you ok?” She asked and Julie nodded, sneaking a glance at her brother, and his friends, as they sang the bridge of Now or Never, clapping their hands.

“Yeah, I’m good.” She said and Carrie smiled at her, clapping her own hands, to the beat of the music.

“Just wondering, because you got really spaced out when Sunset Curve started singing, and you’ve been staring at Luke Patterson since then.” She said and Julie rolled her eyes, and smiled at her friend.  
  
“As if I would go for Luke Patterson, I don’t even know him.” She said, and looked back up at the guys, just in time to see Luke to her favorite one of his guitar tricks. He threw his guitar over his shoulder, and smiled at the audience, as he got it back into his hands.

“And even if we, Hit the ground, We’ll still fly,

Keep dreaming like we’ll live forever, but live it like it’s Now or Never,

It’s Now or Never!”

Luke sang into the mic, the last words of the song, and Julie felt a single tear roll down her cheek, as she watched him, and as if he knew that she was there, Luke looked down, and made eye contact with her. Julie’s heart soared with the hope that he recognized his childhood friend, even after eight and a half years, of them being apart, but the guitarist only winked. Julie’s heart sunk, right to the bottom of her chest, and shattered. Luke didn’t recognize her, Luke, who had been her shoulder to cry on, her chest, to lay on, and her best friend, for her teenage years, since the Molinas adopted Reggie, and Julie met a freshman in high school Luke, and Alex, as an eighth grader. She pulled in Carrie’s hand, and lead the blonde away from the stage, and to the bar.  
  
“Jules, are you ok? What’s wrong?” Carrie asked her, as Sunset Curve started playing their next song, ‘Lakeside Reflection’ and Carrie turned to the stage, to watch. Julie sat at the bar, and smoothed down her top, the crop top that Flynn, wherever she was, had dressed her in. The top was a soft purple, and had crisscrossing strings at the back, and showed her midriff quite nicely. It also let her chest perk up, in a way that made Julie feel badass. Her pants were black, and had a sliver belt with the ends rolled up at her calves, a pair of ankle boots on her feet, that had only a small heel to them.  
  
“I’m fine Carrie, I just need a drink.” She said and Carrie raised her eyebrows at her friend and roommate.

“Are you sure Julie? You know how you get if you drink too much.” Carrie said, as Julie ran a hand through her hair, curls pulled into a high half ponytail.

“Yeah I do, but fuck it Carrie. I just saw some people that I wasn’t expecting to see.” She said, and Carrie looked around the White Wolf, and then back at Julie.

“Where are they? I can go and talk to them for you Jules.” She said and Julie shook her head, grabbing into Carrie’s arm, dreading the scene that might take place, if Carrie were to go and talk to Luke, Alex, and Reggie about Julie, in the middle of their set.

“No, don’t. They’re all busy.” She said and Carrie raised her eyebrows at her, pulling her arm out of Julie’s grasp.

“What do you mean ‘they’re busy’ where are they? Who are they?” Carrie asked, as Julie, despite her better judgement, snuck a glance at Sunset Curve, now playing ‘In Your Starlight’ and Carrie saw her glance.

“Sunset Curve? You didn’t want to see Sunset Curve? Do you have some kind of a history with one of the members, or is one a high school ex? Or what is the deal?” Carrie asked and Julie sighed, turning her head away from Luke, sharing the mic with Reggie.

“I just don’t want to see them right now Carrie.” She said and Carrie raised her eyebrows at Julie, who turned away from the stage, and faced the bar, her head down. Julie listened the rest of the songs, that the boys did, recognizing none of them, and sadly knowing that they had written those after she moved away. She missed writing with her boys so much, sitting in the studio with Luke, his notebook in his lap, and snacks on the coffee table, the two exchanging lyrics, and chords, ideas floating around, until Luke wrote them down, in his messy handwriting. She was on the edge of getting herself a drink, when her phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket, smiling when she saw Willie’s name appear on the screen, with a familiar picture of him.

Julie had met Willie in a Starbucks a few years before, and he had become her New York version of Alex, always there to talk when she needed him to be there.  
  
“Hey Willie, what’s up?” She asked, answering the call, and she could tell that Willie was in a crowed place.  
  
“Hey Julie, where are you? I have Flynn here with me, and she said that you are also at the White Wolf.” He said and Julie’s eyes grew wide, as she gestured to Carrie, who leaned over to her. Julie put Willie on speakerphone, and held the phone between her and Carrie, their mouths close to the device.

“Willie, Carrie is here, your on speakerphone, where are you and Flynn?” She asked and Willie struggled once, before he answered, Julie hearing Flynn in the background, of wherever Willie was at the club.  
  
“I’m at the far right of the stage, next to the pool tables and the bathrooms. Where are you?” He asked and Julie sighed in relief. At least Willie and Flynn weren’t too far away from her and Carrie, at the bar.

“We’re at the bar, facing the stage. Can you bring Flynn to us?” She asked Willie and since it was so loud, Julie almost had to shout into the speaker of her phone.

“I don’t know if I can without her thrashing, and maybe breaking my jaw.” He said and Julie groaned, not knowing what to do, except to get through the crowd, to Willie, and forcibly extract Flynn from the club.

“Crap, what are we gonna do?” She asked Carrie, who had looked away, and was staring awestruck at something over Julie’s shoulder. Julie looked up, when she didn’t get an answer from Carrie, and tapped her friend.

“Hello? Earth to Carrie Wilson?” She asked and Carrie shook her head at Julie, and turned it, so that Julie was now looking at the same thing that she was.  
  
“Juliebird? Is that you?” Julie’s eyes filled with tears, as she saw Reggie Peters standing a few feet away from her, his black hair gelled back, into that style that he had worn since he was in high school, and still now. He wore a white shirt, with his red and black flannel over it, and Julie could clearly see black lines of ink coming over the seams of his shirt, indicating that she wasn’t the only one who got a tattoo. It seemed that Reggie’s style didn’t changed much, even though his physical appearance had changed, his jaw more distinguished, skin tanner, and he still wore the boots, and tight, ripped jeans, blue this time. His warm smile, and bright blue eyes were still the same, and Julie only hoped that his hugs were too, because she was already running to him, tears in her eyes, and arms open.  
  
“Holy fucking shit Reggie, I missed you so fucking much!” She cried into her brother’s strong shoulders, instantly recognizing that Reggie had become strong, and was clearly jacked. Reggie bright his arms up, around her, and hugged her back, just as fiercely as she was hugging him, holding her close.

“I missed you too Jules.” He said, as Julie smiled into his shoulder, her nose buried in his neck, covered in inky black tattoos. Amazingly, Reggie still smelled the same as he had when they were teenagers. He still smelled like cotton, and cookies, but with a hint of sweat, and whatever cologne he was wearing, that made Julie smile, and feel safe and warm. Reggie put his sister down, and looked her over, with a smile on his face, the puppy dog eyes still there, and something that she missed a lot.

“You look amazing Jules.” He said as Julie wiped her tears out of her eyes, without letting her mascara run. She smiled at Reggie, before Willie pulled her back into reality, from her phone, hanging in her hand, at her waist, forgotten as she hugged her brother.

“Jules, what’s going on with you?” He asked and Julie put her phone back to her ear, standing inches away from Reggie, who was wearing a concerned expression on his face, hands in his jeans pockets.

“Sorry Willie, I just saw my older brother for the first time since I was sixteen, so what do we do about Flynn?” She asked and Willie answered back almost instantly.

“Is your brother strong?” He asked and Julie eyed Reggie, before answering Willie back, her shoulders hunched.

“Yeah, you could say that. Why, where are you going with this?” She asked and Willie’s answer came fast.

“Can he come over here and help with Flynn? It would help if her was with friends.” Willie said, and Julie looked at a Reggie, who was flashing her the puppy dog eyes.

“I’ll ask him.” She said, and put her hand over the receiver, and turned to Reggie, with Carrie standing next to her, staring at Reggie in awe, same as a lot of other people.

“My friend Willie is with my roommate Flynn, and she is drunk. Can you help me?” She asked and Reggie nodded his head, and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll be right back Jules” He said, before turning around, and disappearing into the crowd, as Julie told Willie that she was on her way, with her brother, and hung up her phone, turning to face Carrie. Carrie turned Julie around, and looked very seriously into her eyes.

“Let me get this straight. Your older brother is Reggie Peters, the bassist of Sunset Curve?” She asked and Julie nodded sheepishly, Carrie’s mind blown.

“Wow, that is unexpected, but his last name is Peters, and yours is Molina. How does that work?” Carrie asked and Julie fiddled with her bracelet, on her wrist.

“He was adopted, and didn’t change his name from Peters to Molina. Technically, Molina was his name until he turned eighteen, but Reggie has always thought of himself as Reggie Peters.” She said and Carrie looked over at the stage, for just a split second.

“So, if you know the rest of the band then?” She asked and Julie shrugged her shoulders, letting out a breath.

“I met them when we adopted Reggie, and the last time I saw them, before tonight was when I moved away from LA, when I was sixteen, and they were seventeen.” She said, as she heard footsteps, and a familiar voice.

“Oh my god, as I live and breathe, Julie Molina?” Julie turned, and saw the smiling face of Alex Mercer, still wearing that black, leather fanny pack, that she always thought of, when she had pictured him.

“Alex. Hi, I missed you.” She said, and instead of Julie starting the hug, Alex reached out and grabbed her, pulling Julie into his arms and squeezing her. Julie could tell that Alex was muscular now too, wearing a pale pink shirt, under a grey jean jacket, ripped in some places, he was exactly the same. One thing that seemed to be different about the drummer, was that now, he was wearing a pair of jeans, and sneakers. His blonde hair had grown a little, and he still kept it shaved at the base, letting the top fall into his face, even if her wore gel in his hair. Alex, like Reggie, still smelled similar to Julie, lavender lotion, fresh laundry soap, and cotton, his tan skin still the way she remembered.  
  
Julie still remembered exactly how it felt to hug Alex, it was like walking into a warm room, and falling into the bed, and letting it fold you in, keeping you safe. Julie eventually pulled away from Alex, who smiled at her, his gorgeous blue eyes exactly the same as Julie remembered them being, so blue, full, and full of light, his physicality also more mature looking, jaw more defined, and shoulders broader.

“Wow Jules, you grew up amazingly.” He said, kissing Julie on her forehead, and putting an arm around her. Julie chuckled, before she looked around Alex, seeing Reggie standing behind the drummer, but no Luke, anywhere near either of his friends.

“Hey Lex’ where’s Luke?” She asked and Alex looked around, before turning back to her, his eyes on hers.

“He must be talking to Trevor, our manager. Come on Jules, let’s go help out your roommate.” He said, pulling Reggie away from fans, by his arms, Carrie following close behind them, Alex still with his arms around Julie, and Reggie looking at Carrie, the two talking to each other, as they wove through the crowd, to where Willie was waiting for them, with Flynn.

“Hey Willie, Carrie and I brought backeup. What do you want them to do?” Julie asked Willie, as they got to the skater, who was trying to keep a drunken Flynn in a seat, his long brown hair falling into his face. Willie looked up, at Julie, his eyes traveling to the man holding her by the shoulders, Alex instantly going into a gay panic, at the sight of Willie, who looked at Reggie, and Carrie, talking to each other, then back at Alex, and a smile spreading over his face.

“Thank god that you’re here Jules, I was starting to loose my patience with this one.” He said and Julie smiled, slightly pushing Alex forwards, shaking him out of his panic, to meet her friend. He smiled awkwardly at Willie, and held out his hand to the other man.

“Alex Mercer, Julie’s childhood friend.” He said and Willie shook his hand, a smile on his face, Reggie and Carrie shaking out of their conversation, as Flynn doubled over, laughing, and Reggie grabbed her by her waist.

“Willie, nice to meet you man.” He said, and Alex grinned, Julie watching her friends be really adorable together, and not wanting to ruin their moment, she whispered into Reggie, and Carrie’s ears.

“Take Flynn to the car. Then come back for Alex, I’ll babysit in the meantime.” She said, and Reggie nodded, setting off, side by side with Carrie, Flynn dangling over his shoulders, limp, but still awake and talking. Julie watched Reggie and Carrie walk away, before turning to Alex and Willie, watching them talk with a smile on her face. She was so happy that Alex was finding someone he liked, because he was so anxious, and insecure about himself, even after he came out to her in her freshman year, his sophomore year, and the band opened their arms to him, the Molinas doing the same, whenever Alex had a problem with his parents.

“Hey, I’m looking for my bassist Reggie, he’s wearing a red and black flannel, black boots, white shirt, gelled hair. Have you seen him?” Julie heard a familiar voice, and turned around. Sure enough, behind her was the one and only, Luke Patterson as sweaty as he always was after a show. He was wearing a his white ‘Landed in the USA’ shirt, the sleeves cut off covered in sweat and sticking to this skin. He wore a pair of black jeans, and his black Vanns, chains clipped on the belt loops, and a patterned sash tied around his left bicep, hanging at his side.  
  
Julie couldn’t tear her eyes away from Luke’s arms, as they had indeed gotten even more muscular than they had been, when they were teens, tattoos were over his biceps, stringing music notes over Luke’s pale skin, and his broad shoulders, where Julie saw his quartz stone, on the silver chain was still hanging around his neck. The rings on Luke’s fingers were the same as Julie remembered, and he still wore the beaded bracelets, that they had made at a craft fair, for a school fundraiser, and Luke never took them off, do whatever reason that Julie didn’t know about. His silver watch was still on his wrist, and apart from the black tattoos lining his strong arms, and broad shoulders, his physicality more adult, and a very distinguished jawline, sweaty brown hair, that stuck to his forehead, reaching past his ears, and curling naturally under the orange beanie he was wearing, Luke looked just the same as he had the day Julie had left him.

“Luke? Is that you?” She asked before she could stop herself, not noticing that Alex and Willie had heard her, and turned around. Luke raised his eyebrows at her, and looked around the club, at people, around them, before looking back over at Julie.

“Unless you’re talking to a different Luke, then yeah.” He said and Julie’s impulse took over her body, and before her brain could catch up with what she was doing, she had thrown herself into Luke’s arms, and closed her eyes, her arms wrapped around Luke’s warm neck, the sweat on his skin so familiar, yet so strange to her. He still smelled the same, sweat, cotton, and his cologne. She hardly had time to do anything, before Luke had grabbed her by her wrists, and pulled her arms away from his neck.

“Look lady, I don’t know who you are, or why you just hugged me, like I’m supposed to know who you are, but I’m not in the mood to hug random strangers in clubs, not matter how cute they might be.” Like said, holding onto Julie’s wrists, the girl looking into Luke’s hazel eyes, searching for any kind of recognition in them, but finding none. She moved Luke’s hands into hers, and held him tightly in her hands.

“Do you not remember me?” She asked and Luke raised his eyebrows at her, and pulled his hands out of hers.

“Lady, I’ve never met you before, in my life. Am I somehow supposed to remember you?” He asked and Julie’s heart broke, right then and there, shattering as she was hit with the cold, hard, and painful truth that Luke Patterson, her childhood best friend, and songwriting partner, the one who had always been there for her, with open arms, the one who she had hugged last, before she moved away, didn’t even remember her. She backed away, tears threatening to pool in her eyes, backing directly into Alex’s chest.

“Shh, it’s ok Jules.” Alex whispered into her hair, and she leaned into him, Luke looking just plain confused, Willie standing next to Alex, with a hand on Julie’s quivering shoulder, as she suddenly looked up, and saw someone over Luke’s shoulder, and barreled past him.

“Whoa, Julie, are you ok?” Reggie asked, as he and Carrie walked around the corner, and Julie leapt into her brother’s arms, her chest heaving as she cried.

“He doesn’t remember me.” Julie whispered into Reggie’s chest, Alex and Willie standing behind a very confused Luke, from where Reggie, and Carrie stood, with Julie.

“Who... Oh, Luke?” Reggie asked and Julie nodded her head, as Luke spoke up, anger seeking through the confusion over his features, crossing his arms at his bandmates.

“Ok what the hell is going on here? Who is this chick, and why does she think that she knows me, because I am very confused.” He said and Reggie and Alex exchanged looks with each other, the drummer and Willie walking past Luke, and stood next to Reggie.

“Luke, how can you not remember her? Do you really think I’d let any random girl hug me? Who do you think this is?” Reggie asked, holding onto his sister firmly, as she wiped her tears, Carrie helping her, so that her mascara wouldn’t run. Luke looked from Julie, to Alex, to Reggie, and crossed his arms at them.

“It’s Julie Luke. My sister, Julie.” Reggie said, and Luke froze in place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Julie is heartbroken, Alex met Willie, 
> 
> Does Luke remember Julie yet?🤔


	4. Gotta get out of here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the scene at the club, with Luke, Julie goes home heartbroken.
> 
> Luke feels guilty after he remembers her.
> 
> Is it too late for Luke to make it right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We leave the club, and get to see a hungover Flynn and a heartbroken Julie. 
> 
> Carrie trying to stay together. 
> 
> Reggie being a soft boi, and a good big brother.

When Luke heard Reggie say that the crying girl in his arms was Julie, his little sister, time stopped as everything began to fall into place, why she had left the stage so fast, after he winked at her, why she seemed out of breath and mesmerized that he was standing behind her, why she had hugged him the same way that he remembered her doing when they were young. Why she was so distraught when he pushed her away, and why she refused to believe that Luke had forgotten her, because the last thing he said to her was that he would keep in touch with her. He promised her, and he broke his promise, forgetting her altogether, even though Luke could never forget Julie. He stared at her, as she was wrapped up in Reggie's arms, so small in comparison to her brother, her tiny frame shuddering as Reggie and Alex ran their hands over her back. She kept her back to him, and buried her face into Reggie's white shirt, her legs wobbling, as Alex and Reggie both held her upright, a blonde girl standing next to her.

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"Julie?" Julie heard Luke's voice, so soft and sweet, comforting in the way that never failed to make her wrap herself up, in his arms, and let him hold her close, whispering sweet nothings into her hair, as they would either fall onto her bed, the living room couch, the leather studio couch, or a hospital chair, when Julie's mom was there. She wanted to hug him, and say that she loved him, and was sorry, but Julie knew in her right mind that she wasn't sorry, she didn't do anything wrong, it wasn't her fault that Luke shut her out, and forgot about her. She had made a life for herself in New York, and Luke just had to be Luke, and fall into her life, to mess with her feelings for him. She didn't answer, and Luke seemed to come forward, and reach out, looking to put a reassuring hand on her bare shoulder, and get her to look at him, but she wasn't about to. 

"Julie, I'm so sorry, I had no idea, but it's still me. It's still Luke." He said, and Julie breathed in, and looked at him, his hazel eyes as beautiful and bright as she remembered them, but she was too hurt to remember the Luke that she grew up falling in love with. She refused to accept that the same Luke that she knew then, was the Luke standing in front of her now. This Luke, in front of her, with his music note tattoos, his wavy long hair, his fame, and all the fangirls in the world flocking over him was a stranger. He wasn't the boy who had helped her with her algebra homework when it was too hard, he wasn't the boy who had played hide and seek with her and Carlos, making it easy for her to find him, so that she and Luke could track Carlos in his expert hiding spots, all around the house, ending up bribing Carlos out of his hiding spots, with cookies.

He wasn't the sweet, caring Luke who had driven her to school when her dad couldn't, and her mom was starting to get sick. Who had sat in the studio with her, for hours on end, writing songs, and teaching her how to play guitar. Julie couldn't let herself believe that this Luke, who was standing in front of her, his hazel eyes searching for her brown ones was the Luke that she left back in LA. She shook her head, and held her arms to her body, Reggie tightening his grip on his sister, Alex eyeing Willie and Carrie anxiously. 

"Julie, look at me. I promise that I haven't changed. It's still me, the same Luke you remember." He said and Julie shook her head, and snapped, shoving Luke's comforting hand away from her shoulder and turned to him, her eyes red and makeup still somehow reasonably on, thanks to Carrie and waterproof makeup, except for mascara, which she forgot to put on. 

"No Luke, it's not you because the Luke that I remember would never shut me out, the Luke I remember would never forget me, say that he would keep in touch, and then shut me out when he gets a girlfriend, and thinks that he doesn't need me anymore." She said, and Luke looked like a kicked puppy, reeling back as Julie snapped at him. 

"Jules, I'm sorry I didn't know that I hurt you. Please, I-" He started, but was cut off, Julie putting her hand up, and snapping once again at him, her anger and sadness driving her body.

"No Luke, you can't pity your way out of this. I tried and tried again, in junior year, to call you and you never picked up, even when I knew that you weren't doing anything, I still couldn't get ahold of you, until I just gave up. You had so many chances to call me and talk, but after all these years, you never once tried to reach out. You broke my heart Luke, and you're never coming back from that." She said and turned away, pushing out of Reggie's arms and over to the blonde girl, taking her by the arm. 

"C'mon Carrie, let's get outta here." She said, and before Luke could react, Julie was gone and he was alone. Julie didn't look back, plowing through the rest of the bar, to Carrie's car, so thankful that she wasn't drunk, or she would probably have punched Luke in the face. She and Carrie were just about to drive away, when Julie heard Reggie calling to her, from across the parking lot. She told Carrie to stop the car, and rolled down the window, Flynn whining about how cold she felt, and Reggie at Julie's window. 

"Can I come Jules? You and Carrie will probably need help bringing Flynn inside after all this." He said and Julie nodded, Carrie unlocking the door, for Reggie to climb into the back, a drunken Flynn flopping herself over his lap, and snuggling into the man's warmth. Carrie drove them to their apartment, while Reggie pet Flynn's head, gently lulling her to sleep, Julie looking out the window, full of Luke thoughts, until one very important one came into her head, and she turned to face Reggie, who was still petting Flynn's braids. 

"Reg, did Luke shut me out on purpose?" She asked and Reggie squared his shoulders, his petting to Flynn's head becoming stale, and stiff, as he looked like an awkward teenager, in a grown man body. 

"I don't know Jules, Alex got a new number, then when Luke started dating Kristen in senior year something happened, but we don't know what. After he broke up with Kristen, he got a new phone number, because she went all badshit crazy on him, going to gigs drunk, trying to get him to hook up with her and get back together, wearing lingerie to school, trying to get him back, until it got to be her coming to the house when he was here, and lying to Dad, telling him that they were doing a study project, and coming onto him in the studio. Dad took action the third time it happened, and put a restraining order on her, and she moved schools, always bragging on Instagram that she dated Luke." Reggie said, Julie, and Carrie's minds blown away at what Reggie was saying about Luke's ex-girlfriend. Julie turned back to Reggie and rubbed her hands together. 

"So he didn't shut me out then?" She asked and Reggie shrugged his shoulders at her, while still petting Flynn, who was humming a song to herself, with her head on Reggie's lap. 

"I never found out why you guys lost contact, or why you and Alex did, but family became a complicated thing after we got signed, and started touring. I haven't called Carlos in over three years, and haven't heard anything from Dad. Same with Luke and Alex, the minute we were signed to Wilson Records, they left their families behind, and didn't look back. If you really want to know why Luke and you lost contact, you have to ask him Julie, because I really don't know what happened." Reggie said, and Julie sighed as Carrie pulled into the parking garage, and they parked the car. Reggie got out of the car, and hoisted Flynn out of the backseat, and over his shoulder, following Julie and Carrie up the stairs, and into their apartment. Carrie unlocked the door, and walked in, Reggie following after her, carrying Flynn, and Julie bringing up the rear. 

"Where do I put her?" Reggie asked, as Julie put her coat on the hanger, and motioned Reggie to follow her. The 26 year old man followed his sister down the hall, and to an open door, to a room that he could instantly tell was Flynn's. Julie turned on one of Flynn's lamps, and pulled her bedspread back, as Reggie laid the drunk woman down, on her bed. He pulled Flynn's high knee boots off, and her socks followed soon after, she wiggled and reached down, pulling her tye die designed dress off of her body, leaving her in her bra and panties.

Reggie had seen his fair share of women while was on tour, and was used to seeing stuff like this, he was Julie's brother, and there was no way that he hadn't walked in on her changing at least once, so Flynn taking off her dress didn't rise anything out of the bassist. He moved to Flynn's blue and purple tye die dresser, and grabbed a t-shirt from a drawer, slipping it over Flynn's head, covering her chest, and pulling a pair of her sleep shorts up her legs, shredding his red and black flannel, and pulling her arms through it, as Julie walked in, a glass of water, and ibuprofen in her hand. She set it on Flynn's nightstand, and looked at Reggie, her brown eyes, itching with tiredness. 

"Are you going to spend the night?" She asked and Reggie looked from his sister, to her drunk roommate, and back. Reggie smiled at Julie, and walked with her, away from Fynn's room. 

"You and Carrie might need help with Flynn in her hangover tomorrow, so I could sleep on the couch if you girls are cool with it?" Reggie said and Julie shrugged her shoulders, Carrie walking into the kitchen from her room, her party clothes off, and in a silk pair of pajamas. Reggie glanced over and saw Carrie, who was pulling her hair into a bun, and a robe hung on her body. 

"What's going on here?" Carrie asked, leaning against the counter, looking between Julie and Reggie, the man glancing from her, to Julie and back, while Julie was focused on Reggie. 

"Reggie is going to spend the night, so that he can help us with a hungover Flynn in the morning. Is that cool with you Carrie?" Julie asked and Carrie nodded, looking over at Reggie, who was smiling. 

"Won't Luke, Alex, and Trevor be worried about you though?" She asked and Reggie shook his head, pulling his phone out of his pocket, and dialing a number, putting it to his ear. 

"Not if I call them and tell them that I'm helping you girls out." He said, as Julie went into her room, her heart sinking as Carrie said Luke's name. She closed her door, and undressed, and into the shower, washing off her makeup, and getting into her pajamas. She pulled on her slippers and heard a knock on the door, and Reggie opened the door. 

"Hey Jules, you good? Carrie mentioned Luke and you positively bolted. If it makes you feel better, Luke doesn't know where I am, but I think that you need to talk to me about something?" He asked, sitting down on her bed, and Julie leaned into his shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, rubbing circles around her shoulder. 

"It hurts so much Reggie, you have no idea how much it hurt when I hugged my best friend, and he didn't remember me." She said and felt Reggie nod against her cheek, and let out a sigh. 

"I'm so sorry Jules, that's so fucking shitty for you to deal with. Do you need to cuddle?" He asked and Julie merely nodded, Reggie kicking off his boots and belt, laying down beside his sister, and wrapped his arms around her, the two of them falling asleep together. Julie hadn't fallen asleep in Reggie's arms since the night before she moved away. It was in the studio, and Reggie, Alex, and Luke swept her up, into the loft, and wrapped her up in blankets, cuddles, and giggles, Reggie on her right, holding her side, Alex behind Reggie, his arms wrapped around the bassist, and holding onto Julie. Luke got the spot on her left, holding her close, as Julie wrapped her arms around him, her head buried into his neck, falling asleep to the sounds of Luke humming, and his steady, slow breathing that lulled her to sleep very easily. When Julie woke up the next morning, Reggie was gone, and a note was on her nightstand, that was written in her brother's neat print writing, 'Flynn's awake and on the couch, making breakfast for you and Carrie'

Julie smiled at Reggie's note, remembering when he used to leave her notes in the morning, telling her that he was making food in the kitchen, with Luke writing in his notebook, and Alex trying to figure out juggling oranges, even though her actually never figured out how to do it, and Julie highly doubted that he had figured out how to do it by now. She got dressed, pulling her yellow happy sweater over her head, as she walked down the hall, and found a happily familiar sight in the kitchen, as Reggie was behind the counter, chatting with Carrie, who was eating a pancake. Julie sat down at the counter, and smiled at her brother and friend, both of them looking up at her. 

"Morning Jules, Reggie made pancakes and Flynn is passed out on the couch." Carrie said and Reggie swiftly turned and deposited a plate of pancakes on the counter, in front of Julie. She looked down, and started eating the hot breakfast without a second of hesitation, the pancakes disappearing in only a few minutes, as Reggie poured her a glass of juice. 

"Wow Jules, I've never seen you eat a pancake that fast. I'm very impressed." Reggie said and Julie took the juice, drowning the glass quite fast, and pushed her plate over to Reggie. 

"Heyyyyyyyy, Jules, there's a cute guy here! Did you bring him home, or was it Carrie? Also, who's flannel is this?" The three heard Flynn on the couch, hanging over the back, looking at Reggie, his red and black flannel draped over her shoulders. Reggie went over to her, and sat down on the couch, Flynn flopping onto his lap, and laying there, her eyes clouded. 

"You're pretty hot." She mumbled, and Reggie let out a chuckle, as Julie and Carrie sat at the counter, watching Flynn on Reggie's lap, both women exchanging mildly interested looks with each other. 

"Yeah, when you're a rockstar, you get that a lot." Reggie said and Flynn hummed, flinging her hand back, to the counter, where Carrie and Julie were sitting, watching her and Reggie. 

"You fucked a rockstar Jules? Nice job girl." Flynn said, and Reggie raised his eyebrows, as Carrie and Julie looked at each other, before bursting out laughing, unable to contain their glee. They explained the bet that they had made with Flynn the night before, and how the drunken Flynn thought that Reggie and Julie had sex, making the bassist unable to control his own laughter. When Flynn finally came out of her drunken hungover haze, she was shocked to see Reggie, Carrie, and Julie playing Scrabble at the counter, Reggie, with his arm around Julie, and Julie with her happy sweater on, Carrie going through the dictionary, trying to convince Reggie that the word he had spelled was not a word. 

"Excuse me, but what the hell is going on here? Why is there a rockstar in our apartment, and why are you playing Scrabble with him?" Flynn asked and Julie, Reggie, and Carrie all turned around, and saw Flynn, standing there, Julie and Carrie smiling, and Reggie confused, and a little unsure of what he was supposed to be doing in that moment. 

"This is Reggie, he's my older brother, and the bassist for Sunset Curve." Julie said, and Flynn raised her eyebrows at Julie, looking at Reggie, before she slowly nodded her head. 

"Ok, yeah that makes sense that you have a celebrity big brother, who you never mention until today. That's a pretty good story Jules." She said and Reggie chuckled, and handed Flynn his phone, with a photo of Sunset Curve, when they were teens. Ray was taking the picture on Reggie's phone, and Alex was in the back, his arms around Luke and Reggie, who were in the middle. Luke on the left, and Reggie on the right, both of them holding onto Julie's shoulders, Reggie wearing his leather jacket, and flannel, Alex wearing his fanny pack, and pink hoodie with a black baseball cap turned around on his head, Luke wearing his 'Rush' sleeveless shirt, jeans, Vanns, and beanie, and Julie wearing a blue dress, with a white t-shirt under it, a headband on her dark curls, and her hair out. She was sixteen in the photo, and the boys were all seventeen. 

"This is us the day that Julie moved away, our dad, Ray took the photo before Julie's Tia' got there. We were seventeen, and Julie was sixteen. Does my story check out Flynn?" Reggie asked, turning his phone away, and Flynn was forced to nod her head, and Reggie smiled, squeezing Julie into his side, as she leaned her head into her brother's side. They all spent the next few hours in the living room, playing Mario Kart, and watching New Girl, because Reggie loved Zooey Dashenel, and Julie liked the story. Julie hadn't had this much fun in a long time, and was having the time of her life, until she was on popcorn duty, and she went into the kitchen, to pop some more popcorn. Reggie's phone rang, and she called to her brother, who didn't hear her over the TV, and the popcorn popper, and against her better judgement, Julie picked up Reggie's phone, and answered it. 

"Hello?" 

"Reg? Is that you, where are you?" 

Julie froze, hearing Luke Patterson's confused voice over the other end of the line, not even caring that he was calling Reggie's phone, expecting his bandmate to answer, and not his bandmate's angry, heartbroken sister. 

"What do you want Luke?"

"Wait a second, Julie is that you?" 

"Yeah it's me you ass, and you would know that if you bothered to keep in touch with me, like you promised that you would. Remember that? Remember me hugging you for the last time, and asking you to keep in touch, and you promised that you would?" 

"Julie please, just hear me out. You don't understand."

Julie's mind was enraged, and she was growling into the phone, at Luke while Reggie, Carrie and Flynn were caught up in their show, letting her chew out Luke, who was not happy about it. 

"Oh I understand perfectly, you drug me along until you got yourself a girlfriend, and then, instantly, you ditch me for her like I never even mattered to you. Save it for your own pity Luke." 

Julie didn't give Luke the option to answer, and hung up the phone, grabbing the popcorn and walking to the couch, where Reggie, Flynn, and Carrie were waiting, all curled up, and ready for her to hand them the popcorn. Julie sat down, and passed Reggie the popcorn and they continued watching New Girl, until Reggie got up, and found twelve missed calls on his phone, from Luke, Alex, and Trevor Wilson. He put his phone to his ear, and retreated into the bathroom, coming out, to kiss Julie's head, and give her a hug. Julie looked after Reggie, her arms over the back of the couch, as her brother wrote something down on a piece of paper, and stuck it onto the fridge, turning back to her. 

"I have to go to band practice. I left you mine, Alex's and Luke's numbers in case you need to contact us. Love you Jules." Reggie said before he went out the door, leaving Julie with Carrie and Flynn. She stared over, at the fridge, with Luke's, Alex's, and Reggie's phone numbers stuck there by one of her favorite magnets, with a dahlia on it. Julie stood up, and crossed the apartment, over to the fridge, where she took the paper off of the fridge, and looked down at the numbers, written at the bottom was a little note of Reggie's.

'Don't do anything stupid when you call Luke Jules'

Shit.


	5. I'll forgive but never forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie runs into Luke at Carrie's birthday party. 
> 
> Reggie and Carrie bond. 
> 
> Willie and Alex share a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I was a little too mean to Luke in the last few chapters so...
> 
> Here's to the Juke road to redemption...
> 
> Also, Willex are my babies, and they deserve some fluff...

After Reggie left her apartment, he also left Luke and Alex's phone numbers, leaving Julie conflicted. Should she call Luke and chew him out? Should she forget that she even saw his number on the paper? What should she do? Julie ended up on Carrie's big, queen sized bed, in her small room, Flynn on one side and still a little hungover, while Carrie sat at the foot of the bed, and Julie just talked. 

Julie sat on Carrie's bed for a good few hours, talking about all the good times that she shared with Luke, and how much it hurt when she was hit in the heart that he didn't remember her. It was really just Julie and Carrie catching Flynn up on all of the things that had happened in the club, with Luke, Alex, and Reggie after Flynn had wandered off. After getting all of the Luke stuff off of her chest, with Carrie and Flynn, Julie felt able to relax again, and her life went relatively back to normal, except for the new neighbors, moving in a few doors down from her, Flynn, and Carrie. She ended up sending a few experimental texts to Alex, and when she got responses, Julie almost radiated sun. A few months passed, and Julie's life had almost returned to the way it had been before she went to the bar, and saw Luke, Alex, and Reggie except that now, she was in regular text communication with Alex and Reggie, her texts with Alex mostly, just funny memes and advice about Willie, Alex also being anxious, and voicing his thoughts. 

Reggie, however was a different story. Julie found him over at the apartment every time he wasn't working with the band, and they always played board games, danced kareoke, watched TV shows, and a lot of other stuff. The only one that Julie hadn't seen since the club, was Luke and the sane part of her wanted to keep it that way, but the young part of her, the teenage part that loved Luke and missed his hugs always had Julie up, in the middle of the night, standing at the fridge, staring at Luke's number, written below Alex's and Reggie's with the words below it: 'Don't do anything stupid when you call Luke Jules' and she always tried to ignore it, but Luke's number was like a magnet, pulling Julie to call it. The 17th of January was fast approaching, and Julie knew what that meant for her, Flynn, and now Reggie, that it was Carrie's birthday. When Julie woke up on Carrie's she found an always present note on her nightstand, in Reggie's writing, and she smiled, getting out of bed, and meeting him and Flynn in the kitchen. 

"So, is Carrie already at work?" She asked, Reggie and Flynn both nodding and Flynn putting a bite of pancake into her mouth. Reggie on the other hand, slid Julie her own plate, a smile on his face. 

"Are we all set for her surprise party here, after Julie picks her up from work?" Reggie asked, and Julie and Flynn nodded and they began running over the schedule of the surprise party. Reggie, Julie, and Flynn would set up the apartment for the party, and then when Carrie gets off work, Julie would go and get her, the two going on a shopping spree, before coming back to the apartment, where they would surprise Carrie and have the party. Julie, Reggie, and Flynn got to decorating, and the apartment was almost unrecognizable by the time Alex and Willie knocked on the door. Julie was putting Carrie's cake into the fridge, to cool before putting the frosting on, when she heard a knock on the door. 

She went to answer the door, wiping her hands on her apron and opened the door, finding Alex standing next to Willie, their hands entwined and smiles on their faces, Alex holding a box, wrapped in pink wrapping. 

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Julie said and briefly noticed that her two best friends were holding hands, and appeared to be dating. Alex and Willie came in, and put the present that they brought for Carrie on the counter, before going to help Reggie and Flynn set up the rest of the apartment for the party, while Julie was in charge of the food prep. Eventually, Carrie got off work, and Julie left the apartment, the cake all frosted and covered, the food all ready and laid out on a table, the others working on the final decorations. 

"Hey Jules, ready for our birthday shopping spree?" Carrie asked when Julie showed up at her work, the other woman nodding and the two went to the mall, Julie was blissfully unaware that when she and Carrie would get back to her apartment, she would have to deal with more than she bargained for on Carrie's birthday, and probably at any event.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alex was a little nervous to go to Julie's friend's birthday party at first, but Willie being persuasive, convinced Alex to get over his fears and doubts and go to the party, and who was Alex to doubt Willie. Was he Alex's boyfriend, he hadn't really defined any formal relationship yet but Alex really did like Willie, and he already knew Julie, and as Alex soon found out, Willie had become like Julie's New York Alex, like her emotional support. When he had gotten a text from Julie, Alex was quick to hide it from Luke, who had been pacing, and deep in his own thoughts for the last few weeks after the little scene he made in the White Wolf in front of Julie, and a bunch of fans, at least two pictures ending up on social media. Julie texting him again became second nature, just like she had done every day since she left, before Alex got a new phone number, and it never crossed his mind to get Julie's number off of his old phone, while Kristen was in his life, making it nearly impossible for either him or Luke to contact her, being very posessive over Luke. When Julie gave Alex Willie's number, he turned right back into anxious Alex from high school, and began pacing back and forth, after he sent Willie a very proffesional text message, hoping and waiting for a response, just like he had done when they were seniors, waiting for their call from the Orpheum, to book them the gig.

When Willie finally texted Alex back, it flowed like a river, like he and Willie were just so easy together, meeting up any time they could when Alex wasn't at band practice, and even then, Willie would show up to band practice, and steal Alex away the two of them going to skate parks in the city, where Willie would show off his boarding skills, and try to teach Alex, each training session ending up with the drummer falling flat on his face, and needing an ice pack. When Alex had gotten the invitation text from Julie, he, Luke, and Reggie were in the middle of band practice and thank god that Reggie's phone was in his bag, or else Luke might have raised an eyebrow, but thankfully, the guitarist only thought that Willie was texting him, and didn't say anything. Alex texted Julie back, saying that he would go, only before Willie called him, and asked him to go to the party with him. Like a date, like an actual date, and of course Alex said yes, stuttering out of control because he and Willie hadn't even kissed yet, only ever holding hands, and their hugs never going further than Willie's had slightly up Alex's shirt, touching the soft skin of his lower back, causing the drummer to shudder, but relax under Willie's touch. He met up with Willie at the door to Sunset Curve's apartment, where he lived with Luke and Reggie, a smile on his face, dressing as nice as was acceptable for a party, his fanny pack clipped over his chest, a pale purple shirt under a nice grey button up, blue jeans, and a random pair of his sneakers, his hair gelled, and nerves all over his features.

"Well don't you look nice Alex. Going to a party or something?" Luke asked from the leather couch, his notebook in his hands, and feet on the coffee table, sitting on the loveseat, facing the door. Alex turned around, and faced the guitarist, not wanting to lie to Luke about where he was going, because Julie was there, and he wanted Luke to make up with her. It physically hurt Alex to see his best friends pine after each other, well one of them pine, while Julie had made it very clear to him that she was still mad at Luke, but Alex knew better. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, as Luke raised his eyebrows at Alex, and the pink birthday present that he and Willie had picked out for Carrie.

"Yeah, going to a party for one of Willie's friends. It's her birthday." He said, and Luke instantly perked up at the words 'birthday' and 'her'. He leaned over the back of the couch and looked at Alex with those annoying puppy dog eyes, and smile that had never failed to make girls and sometimes Reggie do whatever Luke wanted. He used to pull those eyes on Julie all the time, to get her to chose his side, and it always worked, but Alex seemed to be the only one immuned to Luke's eyes, except for his parents, Carlos, and Ray.

"Sounds fun, can I come?" Luke asked and Alex laughed, shaking his head, and grabbing the pink wrapped present from the table, and tucking it under his arm, Luke looking like a kicked puppy.

"Why not Alex, Reggie is out tonight and now that you're going out with Willie, I don't have anything to do." He said and Alex shrugged his shoulders at his best friend's misfortune.

"Well I don't know what to say Luke, that's your own fault. Maybe go to a club, get drunk, take some whore home. I won't be back for awhile because Carrie is a major party girl." He said, Carrie's name slipping out, and Luke caught on and stood up, his notebook falling onto the couch and closed as the guitarist walked over to the drummer, who had just realized what he said.

"You're going to Carrie's birthday, as in Carrie Wilson, Julie's friend and Trevor's niece Carrie Wilson?" He asked and Alex was shocked. Sure, Luke had been pacing around, and obsessing over Julie for the last few months, but he had never actually said her name since he was pleading with her to listen to him at the club, and this was the first time that Alex had heard Luke say it since then. Luke's hazel eyes bore into Alex's blue ones, the guitarist very interested in trying to break Alex, because, Reggie who was usually easy to break, had already left and was helping Julie and Flynn decorate the apartment for Carrie's birthday, so Alex was Luke's only option for breaking, to get information.

"Yeah, so what if I am?" Alex asked and Luke rubbed the back of his neck, before looking back up at Alex, and his puppy dog eyes trying something on the blonde drummer, trying get him to let Luke come to the party with him and Willie, so that he could apologize to Julie, and try to get her back, so that she could understand what happened in the years they were apart.

"Can you and Willie afford room for one more in the car? I need to talk to Julie and tonight could be my chance. Please Alex?" Luke asked and Alex shook his head at the guitarist, as he heard a knock on the door, and opened it, to find Willie standing there, his long brown hair that Alex wanted to run his fingers through pulled into a small bun and the nape of his neck.

"Look Luke, if you want to ask Trevor where Carrie lives and show up at her party, to try and make up with Julie go for it, but you will have to deal with Flynn, and that is never pretty." Alex said, knowing that the second that Flynn knew who Luke was, she would rip his hair out. Luke sighed and kicked a crumpled up piece of paper across the kitchen floor.

"Fine, just go. I'll burn all your clothes while you're gone Alex." Luke said and Alex rolled his eyes, taking hold of Willie's hand, and starting to close the door to the apartment, looking over at Luke.

"Sure, we both know that you love me Luke. See you when I get back, or whenever Willie lets me leave the party." Alex said, and left the apartment, he and Willie leaving Luke behind, and going to Carrie's party, getting there early, to help Reggie, Flynn, and Julie set up for the party, before Julie was going to take Carrie on a shopping spree, at the mall. What Alex didn't know about, was that Luke wasn't going to give up on Julie, and was going to end up at the party after Julie and Carrie showed up, after their shopping spree.

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Julie always liked the mall, especially when she was there with Flynn or Carrie. Those two really knew how to shop, and drug Julie into almost every store in the mall, and even on a budget, she always left the mall with something amazing. When she and Carrie were in Victoria's Secret, Julie was looking at perfumes, while Carrie was trying some stuff in the dressing rooms. Julie was getting constant notifications from Flynn and Reggie about how adorable Willie and Alex were being, how far they were along with decorations. When Reggie texted Julie the all clear with the party face emoji, she slowly eased Carrie to buying and leaving the mall, the two heading to the apartment, where Julie helped Carrie with her shopping bags inside.

Reggie came down to the car, to help with the bags and when they all got to the door of the apartment, Reggie distracted Carrie with a strap of the bag she was holding, while Julie put all of the bags that she and Reggie were carrying into the apartment, and then opened the door. Carrie walked in, and the apartment was dark, until she flipped on the switch, and the room quite literally exploded in all kinds of different ways. The lights had pink and purple filming over them, streamers and balloons were hung in the windows, and everywhere else. Carrie's face lit up, as she saw what her friends did for her, as she looked around the room, food on tables, and the kareoke machine set up, music playing, and Flynn, Willie, and Alex were standing front and center, and Julie and Reggie stood next to her. She looked over at Reggie and Julie, her gaze mostly on Reggie.

"You guys did this? Oh my god thank you." She said, and jumped into Reggie's arms, hugging him tightly, before Flynn got into the DJ booth, and put on her headphones.

"Who's fired up to have a good time?" She asked, met with cheers, and put a song on. Carrie and Reggie taking Carrie's shopping into her room, before coming back into the living room. The party progressed for a good hour and a half, until Alex and Willie slid up to Carrie and Reggie, both chatting behind the counter, watching Julie on the dance floor, with one of Flynn's friends, Nick.

"Um Carrie, Reggie, red alert did either of you invite Luke, because he is standing by the dance floor and he does not look too happy that Julie is dancing with Nick." Alex said and as if they were the same person, Carrie and Reggie turned their heads and sure enough, there was Luke Patterson. He was standing a few feet away form Carrie's uncle, staring out at Julie, who Carrie had dressed in a dress, that reached her knees, and hugged each and every one of her curves just right. She looked to be having the time of her life, dancing with Nick, and Luke looked like he couldn't even stand it, his arms crossed and hands curled into fists, his black muscle tee making his tattoos pop out, messy hair framing his face. Carrie, Reggie, Alex, and Willie all looked at each other, with panicked looks on their faces, all of them not knowing what to do about Luke.

"Well, what do we do about Luke?" Carrie asked and Reggie answered her question by walking through the crowd, and over to his best friend, who was leaning against the wall.

"Enjoying the party so far Patterson?" He asked and Luke smiled at him, not tearing his eyes away from Julie and Nick on the dance floor, as if Julie would vanish if he did.

"You know, Alex is such a loudmouth. It really hurt not to be invited to the party. I assume that Julie was in charge of the party's invitations and the guest list, while you were on decorating duty?" Luke asked and sent Reggie into his own shock. It was a similar one to Alex's a few hours before, when Luke had mentioned Julie, and voice his desires to go to the party. Of the two of them, Reggie wanted to give Julie's address to Luke so badly, and let the two of them figure it out after Luke would rocket to Julie. He never knew anything about what happened to Luke with Kristen, and if he was being completely honest with himself, Reggie was too afraid to even ask Luke, because of his temper, and the fact that he tried to forget the fact that Kristen had even been his girlfriend. After Kristen, Reggie remembered Luke vowing never to date again, and of many of the vows that Luke had made, that one stayed true, Luke only ever hooked up with random girls after gigs, and never saw them again, and that seemed to be enough for him.

"Luke, please promise me that you won't do anything stupid. Julie is having a good night, and she doesn't need you ruining it." He said and Luke gave Reggie one fleeting look before he walked away to the food table, and Reggie could tell by the way that he was walking, Luke was not going to listen to his friend and was going to do whatever he wanted. Reggie was fucked. Reggie had no idea what Luke was going to do, and as he stood at the counter, letting out slow breaths, he now knew what it felt like to be Alex. He was so agitated that he didn't even notice Carrie walking over to him, until she was leaning against the counter next to him, a drink in her hand, and a smile on her face.

"Hey Reggie, are you ok?" She asked and Reggie looked up, his eyes widening, but his posture relaxing as he realized who it was. He smiled at Carrie, and some of the agitation left his shoulders

"Yeah I'm good, Luke is just being a pain in the ass." He said and Carrie chuckled, looking over at Julie and Nick on the dance floor, Alex and Willie dancing together, and Luke watching all of them, scowling at the sight of Nick dancing so close to Julie, smiles on their faces, but something else in Nick's eyes as he danced with Julie, the girl not noticing.

"Was Luke like that all the time, when you guys were younger?" She asked and Reggie let out a deep chuckle, and pointed over at Luke, before looking back at Carrie, an eyebrow raised.

"Depends on which version of Luke you mean. He has always been stubborn, and very protective over his friends. Especially Julie. Before our mom Rose got sick, she and Luke bonded, and Sunset Curve basically was created in the Molina family studio, where Rose taught Julie and our younger brother Carlos to play the piano. When Mom started getting sick, Luke was always over and helped out around the house whenever her could, sometimes spending the night and coming with us to the doctor's appointments, holding Julie in his arms when she cried. I mean, it was like we adopted Luke and he never left the house like he was always there. Alex did the same thing, but he only started coming around every day and spending the night when Mom was practically living in the hospital, coming to the house and leaving because his parents were really strict about bedtimes. Luke's and Alex's parents weren't huge supporters of the band, and it first started getting bad when grades dropped for Luke, and he ended up running away from home for a few months, and then it kind of reached a tipping point when Alex came out to his parents, and they kicked him out, and he came to the studio." Reggie said and Carrie raised her eyebrows, looking out, at Alex and Willie, dancing together and Luke watching Nick and Julie, Nick getting a little close to Julie with his hands.

"Wow, I had no idea. Did Julie know about all of this?" Carrie asked and Reggie shrugged his shoulders, voice going a little high as he answered Carrie's question, watching his sister.

"Eh, some of it. Luke had already run away and Alex was out, at least to us. Alex didn't get kicked out of his house until a few months after Julie moved away, and a month after that, when things had calmed down after Mom's death, and the debts paid, Luke went back to his parent's house, to live with them until he finished high school, and then when we got signed, he left them behind, and never looked back. He never even made up with his mom when he went back home, he just stayed there and only talked to his mom when he had to. He still thinks that they don't understand his music." He said and Carrie nodded, as Willie quiet literally dipped Alex at the end of the song that was playing. Carrie and Reggie lead the rest of the party in a round of applause for the couple, as Alex came back up, his face a cherry red and legs feeling like they were made of jelly.

"You saw that right Reggie? Alex is so in love with Willie it's so fucking cute." Carrie said as Alex seemed to become brave, and he pulled Willie into Flynn's room, and closed the door. Reggie nodded, and looked down at the small blonde next to him, and she looked back at him, a large smile spread over her face, her makeup always amazing.

"Yep, it is pretty cute." He said as a loud thud echoed through the apartment, and in an instant, Reggie and Carrie looked over to the dance floor, people were spacing out, and this gave Reggie a good view into what was happening on the floor. Luke was on the floor, raising a hand that was curled into a fist, and to Carrie and Reggie's horror, Nick's floppy head of blonde hair, tan skin, blue jeans, and a red shirt under him, his back on the floor with Luke pinning him to the carpet. Julie was standing a few feet away, looking at Luke in shock. His head running on autopilot, Reggie ran into the scuffle and grabbed Luke around the waist and pulled the man off of Nick, Carrie tugging the blonde up, and onto the couch. Luke struggled against Reggie, who was doing everything that he could, to hold his friend in place so that he wouldn't do anything to hurt Nick.

"What the hell Luke?" He asked and Luke put a hand to his jaw, indicating that Nick had somehow caught him on his jaw in a punch. He looked over at Julie, who was just in pure shock, and never tore his eyes away. Julie turned away, and broke through the crowd, and slammed the door to her room and Luke sighed, looking down and slumping in Reggie's grasp.

"Luke, why did you go down on Nick?" Reggie asked and Luke didn't answer, merely wiggling away from Reggie, and walking away, to the bathroom. When he got out of the bathroom, Luke eyed Julie's closed door, and was just about to turn back to the party, to get an ice pack, as his jaw was starting to bruise, and turn red and swell a little bit when he felt a hand close around his wrist and tugging on his arm.

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Julie and Nick were dancing together when Julie felt Nick's hands touch her waist, but Julie hardly had any time to react before Nick's hands were off her body, and she heard a loud thud on the floor. She turned around and saw Nick's fist slam into Luke's jaw, the guitarist then hitting more punches on the blonde's face and stomach before Reggie and Carrie grabbed both boys, Reggie pulling Luke away, and Carrie sitting Nick on the couch. Julie's heart wrenched as she watched the little stunt that Luke pulled, tackling Nick to the ground as she was reminded how many times she had seen him do that to guys who hurt her feelings, or how he used to stand up for her when she was being bullied. She ran out of the room, and to her own as she heard Reggie talk to Luke, and screamed into her pillow on her bed, before she went back out and got an ice pack from the freezer for Luke. Julie looked around of a few seconds until she saw Luke walk out of the bathroom, and she knew instantly that she was right to get the ice pack.

Luke's face was fine, but his jaw, where Nick had punched him was red and swelling up as he looked at her bedroom door, looking like he was thinking about knocking on it, to check on her. Julie stalked over to him, and reached her hand out, closing it around his wrist, feeling the handmade, beaded bracelets around his wrists, the same as they had always been. Julie pulled Luke into her bedroom before he could react, and shut the door behind them and turned to face Luke, who was looking at her with shock written all over his face. Julie sighed, and placed her hands on Luke's chest, and he plopped down on her bed, looking a little confused until Julie sat down next to him and pressed the ice pack to his jaw. Luke grunted as Julie adjusted the ice pack on his sore jaw and looked at her face as she focused on his jaw and not looking at him as she did.

"I thought that you didn't care about me." Luke said and Julie scoffed, brushing a lock of his hair away from his face as she pressed the ice pack into his skin, and held it there. She put her hand on Luke's shoulder and tilted his head to the side and took the ice pack away, and brushed her fingers across the red and swollen skin as small stumbles of hair tickled her fingers.

"I've always cared about you Luke, I just hate what you did to me by shutting me out." She said and Luke snapped his head to Julie, and took her hands in his, looking into her eyes.

"It's not like that Julie I swear. I tried to talk to you at the club, but you left and I didn't get the chance." He said as Julie pressed the ice pack back to the side of his face.

"So you are willing to talk now but you didn't even bother to try and talk when I graduated high school, or college, or any of my birthdays after you shut me out? I tried time and time again to contact you and you never picked up. I don't know if this has something to do with what Reg told me about your ex, Kristen but you needed to talk to me about it Luke." She said and Luke sighed, and shifted around on the bed, so that he was facing Julie, his hazel eyes meeting her soft brown ones, where he could see tears starting to pool. Luke had never been great with crying girls, but when it came to Julie, he knew exactly what to do and her could handle it, but that was back when they were young and she still lived in the Molina house, and now it was different. She lived in New York and was a full grown ass adult, who was pooling tears in front of him like he was seventeen years old again, and she was sixteen, not like he was 26 and she was 25. Julie tried to keep her emotions in check while she was with Luke but it felt so hard to even try.

"Julie, will you please listen to me? I promise you that I never wanted to shut you out and I know that the reason that I did was stupid but trust me when I say that I thought it was the right move." Luke said and Julie sighed, wiping the pooling tears out of her eyes as Luke spoke, looking into her eyes like they were the only thing keeping him anchored. Luke had no idea why he was telling her this, but in the end, his head came to the conclusion that he had kept it to himself for far too long and he had to tell someone.

"When I started dating Kristen it was fun for the first few weeks or so, you know? We were still texting and writing songs together, but then I was at a party with the guys and Kristen. I thought that the night couldn't get any better, I had run into my cousin Mia and had introduced her to the guys, and then a song came on that Mia and I used to dance to all the time, and we went out, to dance. Then somehow, for some reason, the night ended with Mia in the hospital in a cast, with a black eye, and Kristen with a bruise over her side." Luke said and Julie raised her eyebrows at him, completely blown away, and adjusted the ice pack, Luke nodding his head to her, and continued his story.

"Yeah, so it turns out that Kristen got a little too drunk or a lot too drunk, and thought that Mia was hitting on me, and she got really mad and possessive over me, and tackled Mia. I have no idea why I got back together with her, but I did and she continued to be extremely possessive, and got all of the girls at school under some kind of fear thing that I was her property. We were only together for another two months after that, and I finally broke it off when she got into another fight with a friend of mine, Amber from San Jose' and screamed that Amber wanted to fuck me in her car. Later on, after we broke up, Kristen was really edgy, and she tried to get back together with me, showing up to Sunset Curve gigs drunk and wearing almost nothing, going to school, wearing lingerie, lying to Ray about us hanging out in the studio, coming onto me, until Ray put a restraining order on her." He said and Julie nodded, taking away the ice pack and checking the bruise, that was looking better, the swelling going down, and put it back to Luke's cheek.

"Yeah, Reggie gave me the brief overview of what he knows. She moved away and always bragged about dating you on Instagram, but that still doesn't explain why you stopped texting and calling me." She said and Luke sighed, talking Julie's hand that was on her leg and not on the ice pack, pressed to his jaw, and held it tightly and warmly in his.

"She acted like I was her property, and got this idea in her head that I couldn't talk to any other girls. I stopped texting you because I was afraid that Kristen would find a text from you in my phone, or that you would call and Kristen would pick up instead of me and threaten you. I never wanted that for you and Ray, Reggie, Alex, and Carlos already had to deal with my psycho girlfriend, and I didn't want to bring you into it. When I got a new number, after Kristen moved away, I never thought to get yours out of my old phone, and I know that it was stupid but Julie you have to believe me that I'm so fucking so-" He was cut off when Julie pressed a finger to his lips, and removed the ice pack.

"Luke, stop talking. You know that I don't like the word vomit." She said and put the ice pack next to her on the bed, and adjusted herself next to Luke, on her bed, the latter looking at her, confused.

"So does this mean that you forgive me then Julie?" He asked and Julie sighed, and looked back at the guitarist, his jaw red and his hair still as brown and fluffy as she remembered. She reached a hand out, and brushed a few strands of it across his face, and looked into Luke's hazel eyes, innocent and wanting an answer to his question, like it was what he needed to live.

"I can forgive you Luke, but I can't ever forget how much it hurt to see you at the club, be so happy that I had finally found you again, only for you to say that you have no idea who I was. I know that you only wanted to keep me safe, but you should have gotten my number back. We memorized each other's phone number's when I started high school. I needed you through a lot of hard times, and when I reached out to my phone most nights I had to remind myself that you shut me out, and it hurt so much." She said, and Luke sighed, and ran his thumb in circles over Julie's hand, his fingers remembering how good it felt to touch her again, and it was a painful reminder of how much he missed it.

"Ok Julie, I can live with that. Can we maybe try that reunion at the club hug one more time?" He asked and Julie chuckled and shook her head, standing up, and placing the ice pack on Luke's jaw.

"I'll be with the rest of the party. If you decide to come out and join us, I'd really like to have your company Luke." She said and left her room, leaving Luke holding the ice pack to his jaw, his hazel eyes looking after Julie as she left, wide open and an adorably stupid smile spread over his face as Julie closed her bedroom door, and went to the rest of the party.

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Alex had no idea what made him do it, maybe it was the punch that he drank at the start of the party, maybe it was he fact that Willie had pulled him onto the dance floor, or maybe it was the way Willie dipped him down, as the song ended, and he saw Carrie and Reggie flirting at the counter that made him feel exhilarated and braver than ever before. He pulled Willie into Flynn's room, and closed the door, running on a high from what, Alex had no idea, all the sudden they were on the bed and touching, Alex's arms snaked around Willie's waist, and Willie's eyes blown wide, as he held onto Alex's shoulders, his touch soft but firm, like he knew what Alex needed to feel, to be secure.

"Wow Hotdog, didn't think you'd have it in you." Willie whispered against Alex's lips, the drummer breathing heavily and groaning at the nickname that Willie had given him a few weeks before.

"I thought that we agreed that you wouldn't call me that. I slipped on a hotdog and got covered in ketchup one time Willie." He said, and the skater chuckled, his voice deep and hoarse as he ran his fingers over Alex's shoulders, before the drummer grunted, and pulled Willie to him. Their chests collided, and Willie gasped, as he bumped crashed into Alex's chest.

"Will you stop calling me Hotdog?" Alex asked, and looked down at the other boy's lips, and back up, the lights in Flynn's room, dark and blue making Willie's shirt glow a little.

"Make me."

Willie whispered, leaning into Alex's ear and the drummer lost all resolve. He surged forward, and captured Willie's lips in a kiss, the other boy letting out a gasp that Alex eagerly swallowed. He waited for the other boy to respond before he felt Willie move his lips gently against his, their lips moving together each in time with the other, Alex moving a hand up, to caress Willie's face, and to run over the caramel skin of his face. Alex had no idea how long he and Willie were kissing, but it sadly came to an end when Alex heard a loud thud from the party outside the room, and Reggie's voice, being loud and Luke's name. He and Willie pulled away, the skater leaning his head on Alex's shoulder, breathing heavily, and Alex looking to the door, his bravery slowing down, and his anxiety returning, as he heard scuffling, footsteps, doors closing, more footsteps, and muffled speaking.

"You ok Alex?" Willie asked and Alex nodded, looking back at the boy he had just kissed. Willie looked like a mess, hair out of the bun and messy around his shoulders , just how Alex liked it. His eyes were blown wide and his lips were red and swollen, contrasting with his pink cheeks and Alex never thought that he looked more perfect, as he was sure that he looked the same. He ran a hand over Willie's hairline, and cupped his cheek softly, relishing in the fact that he had done this to Willie, him and no one else but him.

Willie leaned into Alex's touch and this gave him the chance to look at what else his mouth had done to Willie while they were wrapped up in their own little world, wait was that a hickey? Holy shit, Alex had given Willie a hickey, he didn't even remember his lips leaving Willie's for a second, wanting to feel every inch of his mouth, lips, and tongue.

"Come on Hotdog, we should get back to the party, and see what trouble your friends got themselves into while we were gone." Willie said, and Alex couldn't agree more. The two fixed their appearances before they left Flynn's room, and went back to the party, where they found Julie's blonde friend Nick nursing a black eyes, Carrie and Reggie standing next to him, at the counter, and a few minutes later, after they got the scoop about what had happened, Julie walked out of her bedroom, but Luke was nowhere to be seen.

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"Hey Julie, where's Luke?" Julie heard Alex ask the moment that she had left her room. She looked from him, to Willie and noticed that the latter was sporting a ripe red hickey under the collar of his shirt, and that Alex's hair was all messed up. She took a mental note to ask the both of them about that later, and took up answering Alex's question.

"He's in my room with a bruised jaw and an ice pack. I thought that it would be the best idea to isolate him from everyone else for a little while, so that he can deal with the ice pack alone. I'll go and get him in a couple minutes for cake and presents." She said and Alex nodded, and before the drummer could turn away, Julie grabbed him by the arm.

"I want you to give me all of the details after the party. Text me so that we can dish." She said and Alex raised a single golden brow at her, and came closer, so that Willie couldn't hear.

"What, did you and Luke finally kiss?" He asked and Julie looked at him, her brow furrowed and she quickly shook her head, curls flying around her head as she did, and leaned back in.

"No Alex, we did not, just text me after the party ok?" She asked and Alex nodded, turning back to Willie, Reggie, and Carrie, who were all crowding around Nick, who was telling them his side of the story. Julie raided the food table for a little while, until Flynn played the last song that she and Reggie had agreed would be the one before they all sang Happy Birthday to Carrie. This meant that Julie had to go into her room, and get Luke before they all sang to Carrie she walked down the hall and to her room, opening the door, and finding Luke curled up on her bed, his arms around her pillow, and his soft, messy brown hair in his face, the ice pack forgotten on the edge of the bed, where Julie had sat.

"Hey Luke wake up, we're all singing Happy Birthday to Carrie in a few minutes. Do you want to come out of my room and have some cake? I made it fresh this morning if it helps. Chocolate, just like we used to make with my mom." She said and Luke opened his eyes when she said chocolate, sitting up, and grabbing the thawing out ice pack. He stood up, and followed Julie out of her room, where the lights were already turned down, and Reggie was picking up the cake, as Alex finished lighting the candles.

The whole room sang Happy Birthday to Carrie, and everyone ate cake, the music turning back on a half hour later, and dancing resuming. At the end of the party, when everyone left, Julie said goodbye to Nick and apologized for the black eye and Luke tackling him before she turned around, and saw Luke leaning against the counter, as Alex, Willie, Flynn, and Reggie were helping Carrie take down decorations, and put food away. Julie walked over to Luke, and touched his shoulder, the guitarist jumping as her hand made contact with his skin. When Luke saw that it was just Julie, he relaxed and his face spread into that signature puppy dog smile that Julie hadn't seen since she left LA.

"Hey Julie, what's up?" He asked and Julie sighed, and bit her lip, tearing Luke's gaze from her eyes, down to her lips, so plump, and soft looking, pale pink under her dark lipstick. Julie reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, slipping it into Luke's hand and letting her own hands linger there for as long as she could, before pulling them back.

"Here, it's my number. You don't have to call or text me if you don't want to, but here it is in case you need it. I won't call you or text you unless you call or text me first." She said and looked up at him once again, before she leaned up, and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. It was just like their parting kiss, the day that Julie left him, and she jumped out the Uhaul truck and ran to him, before she hugged him one last time, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Just like what he had done then, Luke kissed Julie's forehead, and stepped away.

Luke left the apartment and it wasn't until he was in the front seat of is car when he unfolded the paper with Julie's number on it, and read the little note that she had written him.'Thank you for sticking up for me. Call if you need me, I will always pick up'

Luke Patterson was officially fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooh a Willex kiss, I've wanted these two to kiss since I saw that hug scene and cried.
> 
> Is Luke redeeming himself to Julie?
> 
> Are Reggie and Carrie flirting?


	6. What is happening right now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke calls Julie.
> 
> Alex is sassy.
> 
> Carrie takes a walk...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luke gets his time to simp...

It was needless to say that Luke Patterson was a simp, and Alex usually enjoyed listening to Luke go on his rants like he used to do when he had a crush on a girl, before Kristen happened. He had spent four hours on the phone, after getting home from Carrie's birthday party, talking to Julie about the details of Luke's relationship with Kristen from his perspective, and he heard Luke's from Julie for the first time, since Luke shared some of it with him and Reggie after he and Kristen broke up. Alex had to listen to Julie talk to him about Luke kissing her forehead after the party. He was literally on the phone with Julie while Luke was ranting to Reggie a few feet away, since he was hardly saying anything to Julie, Luke thought that he was on the phone with Willie. It was almost too much relationship drama for Alex to handle, but then again, Julie had yet to chew him out about seeing the hickey on Willie's neck at the party, so he knew that he wasn't out of the woods yet, and Julie would ask him question's until he combusted.

Julie ended up forcing Alex to go into his room, when she shrieked when Alex told her that he kissed Willie in Flynn's room, at the party. Alex was forced to put Julie on FaceTime, lock his bedroom door, in the upstairs part of Sunset Curve's apartment so that Luke and or Reggie couldn't eavesdrop or barge in on Alex and Julie's girl talk about Willie. When Julie had simmered down from Alex's confession about the kiss with Willie, she brought up the one topic that Alex was worst at and most hesitant to talk to her about. The forehead kiss and the scene that Luke made at the party, tackling Nick and getting punched in the jaw, needing to nurse his face with an ice pack for the next day.

"I don't know what I was thinking Alex, I just kissed his cheek like it was second nature, and then he just gave me one of his looks, and next thing I know, He's kissing me on my forehead." Julie said and Alex sighed at his friend's idiocy, making himself as comfortable as he could get on his bed, holding the phone above his head, and looking up at Julie.

"Well what was the last thing that you and Luke did together as you were about to leave?" Alex asked as his phone chimed with a text from Willie, smiling softly before Julie answered back.

"I kissed him on the cheek, and he kissed my forehead. But what does that mean? Does he want to take me back to the past or something?" She asked and Alex shrugged his shoulders. All of the sudden, he heard a loud knock on his door and Luke's voice coming from the other side of the door, freaking Alex out as he had Julie on the phone.

"I've gotta go Jules, just wait for Luke to call you and I'm sure that it will all be ok for you." Alex said and Julie waved goodbye, hanging up their call, and the blonde drummer got off of his grey bedspread, and crossed the floor, the cold wood floor sliding against his bare feet. He unlocked the door, and came face to face with Luke, who looked bad.

"Hey Alex, are you busy? Can we talk for a little bit? Reggie just left for some mystery thing a few minutes ago, and you are the only one here, so you're my only option." He said and Alex raised his eyebrows at his friend. In the end of Alex's mental battle with himself, he stepped back and Luke came into his room, sitting down on Alex's futon couch. The drummer sat on the edge of his bed while the guitarist began to fiddle with the rings on his playing hand and looked back up at Alex, who was raising his eyebrows at his friend.

"I don't know what to do about Julie's number. She gave it to me as I left the party and I don't know what to do. Should I call her, should I text her, and if I do, what should I say? Should I be vulnerable, suave, or sexy?" Luke asked and Alex smiled to himself, like it was the greatest day in his life, watching Luke go crazy over his weird Julie obsession.

"Oh this is the greatest day of my life. It's like watching a baby bird learn how to fly and then falling hard out of the nest as he jumps out of the nest, and falls about eight and a half years back, realizing all of the mistakes he made, and all of the chances he had to make it right." Alex said with a smile on his face, and Luke's own a little or more pissed.

"You're one to talk Mercer. You were the first one of us to loose contact with Julie." Luke said and Alex rolled his eyes as Luke crossed his arms over his chest, and glared at Alex.

"At least I actually remembered her when I saw her in the club. At least I got back into contact with her when Reggie left our numbers on her fridge, and she texted me. You had the goddamned chance to get back to her well after you and Kristen broke up and I know that you were trying to protect her from Kristen while you were dating but this is just ridiculous Luke. It's been seven years since you broke up with Kristen and you haven't even bothered to try and call her even though she needed you so many times. And yes Luke, I know that because Willie has been her comfort person since they met, and he told me about what she told him about you, and I really think that you fucked up her life." Alex said, and Luke's eyes were blown wide at his friend's words, and instantly pulled out his phone and went to Julie's contact, his thumb hovering over her name.

"What should I do?" He asked and Alex shrugged, standing up and grabbing Luke's shoulders, and walking him out of the room, and down the hall, stopping at Luke's room and shoving the guitarist in.

"No idea but do it soon because I don't think that I can handle you simping for Julie for much longer, and you won't have anyone else but her to talk to, because I'm going to meet Willie for a movie." He said and left Luke alone in his room, looking at his wall, a poster of Sunset Curve hung together before fame, on the pier with Carlos all laughing. He looked down at his phone as he walked through his room, to his full sized bed on the opposite wall, and plopped down. Luke's finger hovered over the name illuminated on the screen, before he pressed it and put it to his ear and the phone began to ring. Luke let his eyes roam around his room as the phone rang, passing over his acoustic, blue and white electrics, and clothes strewn across the floor, his sleeveless shirts all as worn as they had been since he cut off the sleeves as a teenager and started flaunting his arms.

"Hello, this is Julie?"

'Fuck'

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

Julie had only been off the phone with Alex for hardly more than ten minutes before her phone was ringing again, and she answered it, hardly paying any attention to who it was. She was distracted by Carrie, who was trying to subtly leave the apartment on a bright, and sunny Saturday morning and wouldn't even tell Julie or a sleeping Flynn where she was going.

"Hello, this is Julie?" She said into the phone and heard a familiar voice, soft, deep, and unsure from the other end of the line, and Julie instantly cursed Alex for being right.

"Um, hey Jules. It's Luke." Julie's eyes grew wide, and she sat down on the barstools that Flynn had insisted on them buying when they moved into the apartment with Carrie, and began eating cake from the party.

"Hey Luke, what's up?" She asked and heard a loud door slamming closed on Luke's end of the phone, and a muffled voice that sounded a lot like Alex's yelling up at Luke.

"Was that Alex?" She asked and could feel Luke nod without him even having to answer her, as she felt him turn back to the phone from being focused on whatever Alex was doing.

"Yeah, he just left, to go to a movie with Willie and Reggie is out on some weird mystery outing." He said and Julie laughed at the phone, wiping a speck of frosting from her chin.

"Did they leave you all by yourself Luke?" She asked and Luke groaned on the other end of the phone, and she could hear that he had stood up from wherever he was sitting, and walked out of his bedroom (probably) and into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm all alone and I was wondering if you would be willing to hang out with me sometime, you know just like we used to. We could meet up somewhere and go to lunch, maybe take a walk, come back to my place or yours, and snuggle down on the couch, just like we used to do in the living room, and watch a classic movie like Ferris Buelller with popcorn." He said and Julie sighed. All of the things that Luke was proposing sounded so nice, and so fun that all she wanted to do was say yes and get into the car, and drive to Luke.

"Well, I never had any plans for today. Flynn is sleeping in, and Carrie just left, to go on a walk in the park." She said and Julie could tell that after she said this, Luke was grinning.

"Then, are you free? I could come and pick you up, and we could go for a drive until we find a place for us to eat, we could go food finding, just like we used to do with Reggie and Alex." He said and Julie smiled, remembering all the days into nights that she spent in the front seat of Luke's truck, driving through LA, looking for a good place to eat.

"I don't know Luke. If I wasn't home when Flynn woke up, she might think that I got kidnapped." Julie said and heard scuffling from Luke's side, and the jingle of keys and a doorknob turning.

"Leave her a note. I'll be at your place in fifteen minutes, if you want to come with me then I'll be waiting. Bye Jules." He said and Julie heard the front door of an apartment closing, and Luke hung up the phone. Julie stood there, transfixed before she jumped into action and ran into her room, to get out of her sweatpants and into reasonable outing clothes. Julie left her apartment after writing a note to Flynn about where she was going, and went down the stairs, and to the street level, where she saw what she could only assume was Luke's black car, parked on the sidewalk, the guitarist leaning over the side of the car, his eyes focused on her and a puppy dog smile all over his face. Julie smiled at Luke, and smoothed out the shirt that she was wearing, soft baby blue, tied behind her back and a black angel graphic on the front, a pair of denim jeans, with an invisible belt, and a pair of white sneakers, a white sweatshirt over her shoulders as Julie walked over to Luke's car, and opened it before sitting next to him.

"Hey Julie, you ready to go?" Luke asked from the wheel, and Julie sighed, looking over at Luke, fiddling with her white sweatshirt in her lap before turning back, to face Luke.

"Yeah, I guess but it's just all so weird that this is happening. Like we used to have fun like this all the time when we were younger, and now we're adults and I feel weird about it." She said and Luke raised his eyebrows at her. He pulled away from the sidewalk and they began to drive off, looking along the street for something hinting as a place to eat.

"Why do you find it weird? I've missed this, just getting to drive around town, looking for a place to eat and then going home to watch a movie on the couch, with Reggie's enthusiastic commentary." Luke said and Julie laughed, remembering when the boys had sat her down in front of the TV, to watch the Star Wars trilogy and Reggie talked through the entire thing.

"No Luke, it's not that kind of weird, it's like the kind of weird that it's you, the famous Luke Patterson. Known for making girls swoon and to sweep them off their feet with your voice, and I'm just normal and if people see me hanging out with you then they'll think that we're-" Luke stopped Julie on her rant when the car stopped at the stoplight.

"They'll think that we're friends. I'm not ashamed to be hanging out with you Jules, and frankly I don't care what the paparazzi says about me, because it really doesn't matter, as long as you, Alex, Reggie, and I know the truth." Luke said and Julie nodded. The two of them drove together in silence, passing by a large patch of green, when Julie could have sworn she saw a familiar leather jacket and red flannel, with blonde hair, and a multicolored yellow and gold jacket, and a head of curly blonde hair, walking together, as she and Luke passed by.

\----------------------------------------------------

Reggie had no idea why Carrie was texting him right in the middle of one of Luke's Julie rants, but he was glad that she did, giving him an excuse to ditch Luke, and unload him on Alex. He was out of the apartment faster than it took Luke to cut the sleeves off of one of his shirts. Reggie met Carrie in the park that she texted him to meet her at, and the two just talked, while walking through the park, hands in pockets, and the wind making their cheeks dusted pink in the cold, both exchanging stories about weird moments from their childhoods.

"So, my parents split when I was a kid and I was tossed around until eighth grade, when my mom took me to New York, and I only came back to LA, to see my dad for summer break, and sometimes Christmas, and that was also the only times that I could see my uncle, and it sort of messed me up, and I became the cold ice princess until I graduated high school, and met Julie and Flynn. They just turned me around I guess you could say." Carrie said and rubbed the side of her arm, as she and Reggie rounded a corner, facing the road.

"That sucks ass. My biological parents stopped acting like they cared about each other when I was ten. They would fight, scream, break things, and sometimes I would even be in the mix, getting hurt myself." Reggie said and gestured to a small scar on the side of his neck, that looked like he had been slashed with glass or something, and Carrie brushed a finger across it.

"Holy crap Reggie, how did that happen and how did you get away from them?" She asked and Reggie sighed, as they walked and rubbed the side of his arm, leather under his hand.

"One night, I ran away with blood down my face and I thought that I was going to Luke's house, but I ended up on the Molina's front porch, and you can imagine how freaked out Julie and Mom were to find me curled up in pain on the porch. They took me inside, and Mom and Julie helped clean me up, give me a shower and a change of clothes, washed my old ones, and asked me what had happened. When I told them that my mom and dad were fighting and I got cut by a flying plate, Mom and Dad started taking legal action. Luke and Alex showed up the next day, and soon after came a Child Protective Services person, and they asked me a few questions, and next thing I knew, I was with Dad, Julie, Luke, and Alex, clearing all of my stuff out of my old house and moving into the Molina's guest room, and I was adopted. I saw my parents in the news a few times after that, my dad in jail for child endangerment, and my mom starting over as a lawyer in Sacramento." He said and Carrie raised her eyebrows at him, as Reggie started tearing up, pools of tears in his eyes.

"Wow Reggie, I had no idea. That is some really messed up shit, and I thought that my childhood was shitty." Carrie said and Reggie laughed, remembering what it was like to be welcomed into the Molina home. Julie had been so enthusiastic to help him decorate his new room, and Carlos was exited to have a big brother that he could bond with.

"I got used to it so much that I was almost numb to life, and when I moved in with Julie, Mom, Dad, and Carlos, we all just clicked and they took Luke and Alex in, like they were also their sons, and they were over almost every day, in Mom's studio and we played music, watched movies and had way too much fun than I had ever had when I was with my bio parents." He said and sat down next to Carrie, the two of them on a bench in the park, runners going past and people chatting with each other and people walking their dogs. Reggie looked over at Carrie, who was watching a couple walk past with their puppy and touched her on the shoulder, the blonde turning to face him, a little confused.

"Hey Carrie, why did you text me so early this morning?" Reggie asked and Carrie shrugged her shoulders, looking down at the grass, and then back up at Reggie, her brown eyes looking into his blue.

"I guess that I wanted to hang out, I mean I never see you unless you show up and I like hanging out with you Reggie, and I'd like to know more about you, and you're Julie's brother so I have to know some things about you." She said and was rewarded by an adorable puppy dog smile from Reggie, who leaned over the back of the bench they were on.

"You like hanging out with me Carrie?" He asked and Carrie nodded, looking away, trying to hide her softly blushing cheeks from Reggie's eyeline, even though the bassist saw her blush from her ears.

"Then what do you say we go ice skating? Or roller skating. Either one is good because Julie taught us how, and believe me, it was so funny to watch Luke fall flat on his ass on the roller derby rink in LA." He said and Carrie smiled, and stood up, Reggie following suite.

"That sounds fun." Was all Carrie said before she pulled Reggie to the edge of the park, and got into her car, driving it back to the apartment, and getting into Reggie's front seat, and going to the roller derby rink that she was sure was only a few blocks away, even though she sort of trusted Siri and her navigation that Reggie seemed to trust.

\-------------------------------------------------------

When Julie and Luke had been driving for about twenty minutes, around the city, Luke stopped the car at a place that was along the side of Central Park, and looked to be a small diner. He parked and locked the car, taking Julie by her hand and leading her inside, through the doors, and into a small booth, putting menus up, covering their faces from view.

"Are you afraid of people seeing you at a diner Luke?" Julie asked and Luke forced out a sigh, and adjusted the sides of his menu, so that not only his face was covered, but Julie's also.

"I just don't want the press to find out that I'm here, and if I didn't have this menu up, the reporter at the bar would already be posting that I'm here on Instagram and fans would be here faster than it takes Reggie to style his hair." He said and Julie chuckled, knowing that Reggie had a record of styling his hair with his gel in five minutes or less.

"Ok I get it, but being a rockstar is nothing to be ashamed of Luke. Should we just get some fries and leave? You don't seem too comfortable being here and I wouldn't mind us going back, to watch a movie and pop some popcorn curling up on the couch under some fuzzy blankets and spend the whole night making fun of the stupid decisions that the characters make." Julie said and Luke smiled, only wanting to follow up on Julie's suggestion and spend the rest of the day with his shoes kicked off, bundled up in a fuzzy blanket next to Julie. He remembered how fun it had been for them to have their movie nights together, and watch Ferris Bueller, Back to the Future, Star Wars and more. It was all that the impulsive part of Luke's brain wanted to do in the moment, but the rational part of his brain knew that he shouldn't and just wait it out with her. Luke's mental battle was cut short when he heard a familiar voice at the doorway of the diner, accompanied by Willie's laugh and Julie's voice calling to him and Alex.

"Hey Willie, Alex, over here." She called and Alex spotted her, and grasped Willie by the hand, and lead the other man over to their booth, sitting across from Luke and Julie, the girl going around the edge of the booth, and sitting almost thigh to thigh with Luke, as Alex and Willie started talking to each other, leaving him and Julie out in the cold of their conversation.

"So you were hanging out with Willie all day huh Alex? How was your guy's movie?" Luke asked and Alex launched into a little speech about how his date with Willie went, what movie they went to see, and where they went after. They all shared normal talk for a few minutes until Luke felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned around, to see Reggie and Carrie in the diner, both next to each other and smiles on their pink colored cheeks.

"Hey you guys, what are you all doing here? Reggie saw your car Luke and he was wondering why you were here, oh hey Alex how was your movie date?" It was Carrie, and she was smiling at Alex and Willie, who were sitting together, across from Luke and Julie. Reggie and Carrie sat down at the booth with the other four people, both on opposite sides of the table. Julie got up, and left the table a few minutes later, going to the bathroom, and the rest of the group lapsed into chatting while waiting for food, and Julie to come back. After five minutes of Julie being gone, Luke began to get a little anxious of where she might have gone, and when or if she was coming back to the table. 

"Hey guys, do you know where Julie went?" He asked as the karaoke machine turned on and he turned his head, only to see a woman standing beside it, a microphone in her hand and a smile on her face.

It was Julie. What was happening to Luke Patterson's life?


	7. You’ve blown him away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie sings.
> 
> Luke is a simp
> 
> Alex is sassy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Julie is the slanted italics  
> Luke is the bold italics  
> Them together is the underlined italics

When Luke saw Julie her onstage, the karaoke microphone in her hands, his mind stopped working. He stared at her as the rest of the table all exchanged knowing smirks. Alex’s looked like his birthday had come early as he saw Luke staring at Julie like she was a star. The singer however looked like she was in bliss, and stepped up to the stage and smiled. She opened her mouth and began to sing, Luke instantly drawn to Julie, unable to tear his eyes away from her, like a hunger in them, that only she could fill.

" _We were strangers, starting out on a journey,_

_Never dreaming what we'd have to go through,_

_Now here we are, and I'm suddenly standing,_

_At the beginning with you,"_

Julie stepped into a whole other world when she sang and it was something that Luke hadn't seen since they were young, and still in the Molina's studio, writing songs, and having little snacks and sleepovers, and now, Luke was feeling something new and strange that he had never felt towards Julie before, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he got around her. He couldn't stop watching her, and found himself standing up, and leaving the booth, walking to the karaoke stand and getting his own microphone, and joining Julie.

" _ **No one told me, I was going to find you,**_

_**Unexpected what you did to my heart,**_ "

When Luke stepped onstage and started singing the man's part with Julie, she turned to him, initially shocked and then calmed down when she realized that it was just Luke. She opened herself to him and looked right into the brunette guitarist's eyes as he sang to her. Julie was so entranced by Luke's electric presence on the stage, that she was so lost in his next lyric.

**When I had lost hope, you were there to remind me,**

_This is the start, and life is a road and I wanna keep going,_

_Love is a river I wanna keep flowing,_

_Life is a road, now and forever, what a full journey,_

_I'll be there when the world stops turning,_

_I'll be there when the storm is through,_

_In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you,"_

Luke and Julie sang together, and the diner had completely abandoned any other things that they were doing, and watched the smitten couple sing a song to each other. 

” _We were strangers, on a crazy adventure,_

**Never dreaming how our dreams would come true,**

_Now here we stand, unafraid of the future,_

_At the beginning with you,_

_And life is a road and I wanna keep going,_

_Love is a river I wanna keep flowing,_

_Life is a road, now and forever, what a full journey,_

_I’ll be there when the world stops turning,_

**I’ll be there when the storm is through,**

_In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you  
_

**Knew there was somebody somewhere,**

**A new love in the dark, now I know my dream will live on,**

**I’ve been waiting so long, nothing’s gonna tear us apart,**

_And life is a road and I wanna keep going,_

_Love is a river I wanna keep flowing, life is a road,_

_Now and forever what a full journey,_

**I’ll be there when the world stops turning,**

_I’ll be there when the storm is through,_

_In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning,_

_Oh, Ah, oh, oh, oh, oh,_

**Life is a road and I wanna keep going,**

**Love is a river I wanna keep flowing on,**

_Starting out on a journey,_

_Life is a road and I wanna keep going, love is a river I wanna keep flowing,_

_In the end I wanna be standing,_

**At the beginning,**

_With you,_

_Oooo oh ah.”_

Luke and Julie stopped singing when the music ended, both of them staring into the other’s eyes like they were love struck teenagers. Julie put down the microphone, and snuck a side eye glance at Luke. He was staring at her, and from the look on his face, he looked mesmerized by her. The both of them then got off of the karaoke machine, and back to their table, with Reggie, Carrie, Willie, and Alex. Julie was amazed that Alex didn’t start in her until Luke went to the bathroom, and they got their ordered food. 

”So, Julie why did you sing karaoke with Luke?” Alex asked and Julie looked up from her French fries, and raised an eyebrow at the blonde drummer, his eyebrows raised.

”Why?” She asked and Alex chuckled lightly.

”Girl, you’ve blown him away yet again, and there is no way Luke will come back or recover from that.” Alex said and Julie sighed, swirling her fry around, in the ranch dip, before she felt a familiar and comforting hand on her shoulder. Luke sat down and picked up his burger, smiling at Julie. 

’Shit, she was in love with this idiot wasn’t she?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this chapter is short and that’s all I have to say.
> 
> Except, now both know they love the other...


	8. Unexpected obstacles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of the diner
> 
> Something unexpected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Julie and Luke go ice skating and things don’t go according to plan...
> 
> 🤔🤔🤔

Julie left the diner with Luke, all of the others not too far behind them, but the man holding her hand as they walked to his car was the only thing on her mind. She and Luke walked to his car and when they were alone, and in the safety of the warm car and comfy leather seats, Luke turned to Julie.   
  
“So, do you want to go somewhere fun? Like to the ice rink?” He asked and Julie nodded her head, and turned to face Luke. 

“Yeah, sure.” She said and Luke drove away from the diner, down to the ice skating rink. Luke stopped the car and got out, Julie joining him on the other side. 

“Ready to skate Jules?” Luke asked and Julie chuckled, as they walked to the door of the rink.

“Only if your ready to fall on your ass like you used to Patterson.” She said as Luke stopped to pay for their ice skates, a smile on his face.   
  
“Very funny Molina, let’s just go and get our skates on.” He said once the lady behind the counter had selected their sizes and handed them over to Luke with a smile. 

Julie and Luke laced up their skates and went into the rink, Luke taking a few laps around the rink, before looping back around, to Julie.

“Hey,” Luke said as he slowed to a stop next to Julie, who was going a little slow and sticking closer to the wall of the ice rink. 

“Hi, so are you having fun leaving me hanging?” Julie asked and Like shook his head and held out his hand to her, a slight smile of his face.

”No, come on, let’s go.” He said and Julie took his hand, and the two began to skate around the rink, Luke never letting go of Julie’s hand. 

Julie was having a great time, ice skating with Luke was something that she had missed a lot after she left LA. Their favorite thing to do during the Christmas season was to go driving and go skating at the ice rink, Alex and Reggie would come with them and they would all get hot chocolate after. 

”Do you want to try our spin?” Luke asked, and Julie giggled, remembering that one year when the two had been ice skating and Luke had picked Julie up and spun her around. 

“Ahhh Luke, stop, put me down!” Julie shrieked as Luke spun her around, while still skating at a steady pace. The man laughed and lowered his arms, still wrapped tightly around Julie’s waist as he had lifted her up. Her skates hit the ice again and she leaned into Luke’s chest as he spun them to a stop, by the wall of the rink. 

”Well that was fun.” Luke said and Julie scoffed, her face coming off of Luke’s chest and she leaned back, to look at him properly.

”Fun for you mister. I was the one in the air.” She said and Luke chuckled, tapping Julie softly on her nose, a smile on his face. 

”You love it.” He said and Julie rolled her eyes. 

”Maybe.” She said and was about to skate out of Luke’s arms, and around the rink, when he made a strangled noise and reached out, grabbing the slowly leaving Julie, and pulled her back to him, face in his flannel. 

”Lukey, I thought that I saw you here, you look amazing babe.” 

Julie turned around and saw a woman on white skates, coming towards her and Luke. She had long, curly, platinum blonde hair, and pale skin. She had a sickeningly sweet smile on her face, and was looking directly at Luke. The woman slowed to a stop and smiled at Luke, who looked back with an unreadable expression on his face, his grip on Julie tightening. 

”Kristen Thompson, it’s been a long time.” Luke said and seemed to turn Julie away from the blonde. Kristen laughed a high and false laugh, and put a hand on Luke’s shoulder. 

”You’re right Lukey, it really has been far too long and you’ve changed so much. We must catch up.” She said and Julie was given the chance to look over Luke’s ex-girlfriend. 

She was wearing a large, silver fur lined parka and her pants looked like they were made of leather. Her scarf linked around her neck and was tucked into her shirt, which looked to be a V neck, and exposing her boobs. She wore a pair of black leather gloves and a large amount of makeup. 

”Maybe, but with the band I probably won’t have any time, and Julie here and I have been hanging out since I got to the city, so I don’t really think I’ll have time unfortunately Kristen.” Luke said, through tight lips, and a clenched jaw, clearly not happy to see his ex. Kristen’s smile vanished at the mention of Julie, and she locked eyes with the other woman. 

“Well then if that’s the case, I’ll be going. It was nice to see you again Luke.” She said and skated away from Luke and Julie, and Luke pulled Julie into his arms, and skated to the edge of the rink, to the exit. 

”Luke, are you ok? Was that your ex-girlfriend?” Julie asked even though she already knew the answer. Luke got them off of the ice and onto the benches. He unlaced his skates and began on Julie’s, without speaking.

”Luke Patterson, answer me! What’s wrong?” Julie asked Luke, as he took off her skates and shoved her white winter boots at her. 

“I’m worried that Kristen will find you when I’m not around and threaten you, just like she did to all of the girls in high school, and even my cousin Mia.” He said and Julie stood up, and put her hands on Luke’s shoulders. 

“Luke, it’s ok. Don’t be worried about me. I know that you were trying to protect me before, but I’m not a helpless teenager who’s mom just died anymore, you don’t have to protect me from the big, bad world.” She said and Luke sighed, walking to the counter, and returning the skates, leaving Julie to lace up her boots and join him. She was standing up when she came face to face with Kristen. 

”So you’re Julie. Honestly I don’t get what Luke sees in you.” She said and Julie raised her eyebrows at Kristen, knowing that she was in love with Luke and that she meant the world to him, and him to her.

”I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about Kristen.” Julie said and Kristen scoffed, shoving Julie away from the bench. 

“Oh don’t play all innocent. I was with Luke in high school and I had to deal with whores and bitches just like you. Trying to steal my boyfriend for a nice fuck.” Kristen spat at Julie, who was more than ready to snap back at the bitch who had caused Luke to cut her off, and make his life hell for him, Alex, Reggie, and her family.

”Fuck off Kristen. Luke and I are just friends and we’ve known each other longer than you can think. He was cuddling on the couch with me before he even met you. You need to face facts bitch, Luke broke up with you after you fought a friend of his in front of the school.” She said and Kristen rolled her blue eyes.

”Amber James knew what she had coming and as for your little story about knowing Luke for so long, it’s bullshit because he only had Alex and Reggie as friends and he never mentioned a girl named Julie.” She said and Julie scoffed at Kristen. 

”He never mentioned me because he was protecting me from you, you crazy psycho. I moved away from LA way before you two met, and we were texting and calling daily, until he took you to a party and his cousin ended up in the hospital, and he cut me off to protect me from you.” Julie said and Kristen let out a high laugh. 

”That’s rich. Luke was crazy about me and he was the hottest guy in school, all the girls wanted him, but he was with me, so they had to go with flirting with him, and I had to make sure that they wouldn’t. He wouldn’t protect some girl from me.” Kristen said and Julie rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, and shows Kristen a picture of her and Luke, Alex, and Reggie in Luke’s truck from high school and it was the last day of summer before the boy’s sophomore year and Julie’s freshman year.

”If you don’t believe me then just look at the date and the truck. I’m Reggie’s adoptive sister.” She said as Kristen’s jaw dropped open and she looked back at Julie. 

”You made all of the girls at school paranoid that you would do something to them if they do so much as talk to Luke and he was afraid that you would find a text from me in his phone and then you would threaten me.” She said and was stopped when Kristen slapped her across the mouth. 

”Don’t lie to me bitch! Luke would’ve told me. He loved me and I loved him, and I tried to get him back.” Kristen spat at Julie and was about to slap her again, when Julie was pulled away and into Luke’s strong arms. 

”Stay the fuck away from her Kristen. Julie is more the woman that you never were and never will be. Never try to contact me again, and never hurt Julie again.” Luke snarled at the blonde, and walked Julie out, who was rubbing her hand against the red mark that Kristen had left on her face, tucked into Luke’s arms. 

”Are you ok Jules? Did she hurt you?” Luke asked and Julie shook her head, sitting down in Luke’s car, and closing the door. 

”She hit my jaw, but I’m ok Luke, really I’m fine.” Julie said and Luke sighed, reaching out, to touch the mark on Julie’s face. 

“I’m so fucking sorry that you had to go through all that just now Julie. I should have never gotten together with Kristen in the first place.” Luke said and Julie sighed, moving her hand to his, where it was placed on her jawline, and rested it there. 

”Don’t beat yourself up about it Luke. What happened, happened and now you are older and know not to trust Kristen and I’m here for you. I’m not ever gonna leave you again.” She said and Luke sniffed, putting his other hand right over hers. 

”You promise?” 

”I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kristen is psychotic, just putting that out there, in case you haven’t already pieced that’s together, but she’s really good at hiding it. 
> 
> What did you think about the banter and the fluffy ice skating? 
> 
> Juke has my heart
> 
> 😍🥰😍


	9. Panic at the system

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie and Luke go back to the apartment. 
> 
> Alex and Reggie get filled in.
> 
> Flynn takes action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now for the aftermath of the ice skating and Kristen...

As he drove Julie back to her apartment, Luke kept eyeing the side of her face, where Kristen has slapped her and knew that he had to tell Alex and Reggie. He hoped that the two were at Julie’s apartment, so that he wouldn’t have to tell them both separately. In his gut, Luke knew that Kristen would do this and he was afraid that Julie would be caught in the crossfire without him there, to protect her. 

He pulled to the curb and Julie got out of the car, pulling her jacket closer to her body. 

”Are you Ok Jules, do you need me to come up with you?” He asked and Julie smiled and nodded her head.

”I asked you at the diner if you wanted to watch movies with me afterwards, and I’ll make our favorite popcorn.” She said and Luke smiled, remembering making popcorn for movie nights with Julie. She would wait to put the butter on, after the salt, and then she would put another layer of salt.

”How can I say no to that.” He said and followed Julie up the stairs, and down the hall. 

”Julie, we should really talk about what happened with you and Kristen at the ice rink. Her slapping you made me want to kill her.” Luke said as the two walked to Julie’s apartment. The woman looked over at Luke and sighed softly, her hand on his shoulder, much more caring and safe than when Kristen has put her hand on Luke. 

”I need to wait and tell Flynn first. She’ll know what to do about Kristen.” Julie said and Luke slightly raised his eyebrows at her. 

”Why? Is she a cop, an FBI, or CIA agent or something?” He asked as Julie stopped, to unlock the apartment door for them. 

”Something like that.” She said and pushed the door open, and they were met with the sight of Alex, Willie, Carrie, Reggie, and Flynn, all on the couch, watching Star Wars. 

”Wow, who could have seen this coming? Me.” Julie said and Luke chuckled, bumping shoulders with her, as they walked in. 

”Reggie, Alex, can we talk about something in Julie’s room?” Luke asked when Reggie acknowledged their presence and turned around, to face Luke and Julie.

”What’s up man? Is there a problem or something,” Alex asked, from his spot on the loveseat with Willie, the skater wrapped up in his arms. 

”Or something. It’s about Kristen.” Luke said and all the heads in the room turned and were focused on Luke and Julie. It took a few seconds of silence before Carrie spoke up.

“Um, Julie? What happened to your face? It looks like you hit by something.” She asked and Reggie shook his head, and looked at Luke. 

”Or rather hit by someone. Did you two run into Kristen?” He asked and Julie nodded, and an instant uproar went through the apartment, the only confused person being Flynn, who was sitting on the couch, with a glass of water in her hand. 

”I’ll fucking kill that little bitch for hurting my Juliebird!” Reggie yelled, trying the hit or throw something before Carrie pulled him back to the couch by the lapels of his leather jacket.

”Why didn’t you tell us Luke?” Alex rages, still managing to keep his cool through what he had just heard. Willie just looking mad and Flynn very confused about what was happening. 

”Who is Kristen and why am I out of the loop?” She asked and Reggie exchanged looks with Luke and Alex before turning to Flynn, with a very serious look in his eyes. 

”Kristen was Luke’s girlfriend in high school, after Julie moved away. They dated for about a month and a half before Kristen attacked Luke’s cousin Mia, at a party we were all at, that Mia’s friend brought her to. Luke started getting weird feelings about Kristen’s behavior and after she attacked his friend Amber, Luke grew a brain and shut Julie out to protect her from Kristen, but didn’t contact her again after he broke up with Kristen, because he’s a dumbass.” Reggie said and Luke let out an indignant grunt at his friend’s words. 

Luke moved Julie to the couch and put an ice pack on her face, for the bruise that was starting to form.

”So, you and Julie ran into your psycho ex-girlfriend at the ice rink and she slapped Julie? How long did it take for her to get all pissy?” Carrie asked and Luke shrugged. 

”She got defensive when she saw Julie and after I went to return the ice skates, Kristen decided to go and mess with her. I got there as fast as I could when I heard them yelling at each other and by then, Kristen has already slapped Juke across the face.” Luke said and Flynn spit out her water.

”Wait what!? That’s fucking assault, that woman should be in jail right now. Why did they let her off when she beat up your cousin and friend?” She asked and Like shrugged his shoulders at her, rubbing Julie’s shoulders.

”Kristen is really good at hiding things, and I really have no idea how and why she was let off, but she was and it took awhile for us to get a restraining order on her.” Luke said and Flynn merely scoffed at him. 

”A restraining order won’t do shit if the person is psycho. How long did it take for her to hit you after she started on you Jules?” Flynn asked and Julie thought about it. 

”Not long, but I’d say about a minute and a half, she was acting like she owned Luke like a dog.” Julie said and Flynn sighed and pulled out her phone, and looked at Luke.

”Ok, what’s her last name Luke?” She asked and Like raised his eyebrows at the woman across the couch from him and Julie. 

”Why? What are you going to do?” He asked and Flynn groaned. 

”I’m calling one of my buddies down at the station, and he should help me out with finding her.” She said and Luke raised his eyebrows.

”Dude, she just assaulted Julie, what do you expect Flynn to do?” Alex asked and Luke nodded.

”Kristen Anne Thompson. Age 26. Hair color blonde and eye color, blue.” He supplied and Flynn wrote down notes, putting her phone to her ear and walking down the hall, and into her bedroom, as the phone started ringing. 

”So are you ok Julie?” Willie and Alex asked, the couple concerned for Julie’s well-being. She smiled at them and nodded. 

”Yeah, I’m fine. It’s really nothing important.” She said and Reggie shook his head at his sister, while holding Carrie in his arms. 

”It’s not fucking ok Jules. Kristen hit my little sister and she is going to have hell to pay for it.” He said and Carrie put a hand on his chest.

”Hey, Reg, it’s ok. Flynn is a great cop. She will find Kristen and it will all be ok soon.” She said and made eye contact with Reggie. The man nodded and smiled at Julie, before Alex and Willie turned the movie back on. 

Julie looked back over to Luke, who was still stotic, and unmoving. She touched his face, making him turn to face her, their eyes meeting.

”Do you want to go and lay down with me? It’s pretty loud in here.” She said and Luke, who was too caught up in all the things that had happened in the past hour, stood up and followed Julie to her bedroom. They ignored the questions of their friends about where they were going and plopped down on Julie’s bed, Luke sprawled out, on the bottom part, and Julie by her pillows.

“Are you ok with what just happened in there?” He heard Julie ask, when they were in the privacy of her quiet and safe room. 

“I don’t know Jules, it’s just that I’m worried that going after Kristen would just spell trouble for us. I don’t want you to get hurt.” He said and Julie shook her head, and took his hand in hers, looking into his eyes. 

“I won’t get hurt Luke.” She said as Luke brushed his fingers against her red mark from Kristen.

”But you already did get hurt and I hate seeing you when you’re hurt Julie.” He said and Julie sighed, and laid down, and snuggled down to where Luke was, pushing her body against his, chest against back. 

”I know you do Luke and I hate seeing you when you’re hurt, so we’re even. You jump, I jump right?” She asked and Luke chuckled and pulled Julie over, so that she was facing him. 

”Did you just quote ‘Titanic’ at me Julie Molina?” He asked and Julie flushed red, hiding her face from Luke’s view, a smile on her face.

”Maybe?” 

”You did!”

”No I didn’t! Stop it!” 

”Only if you admit that you quoted ‘Titanic at me Molina.” 

Julie groaned, which sounded more like a high whine, but Luke didn’t say anything else, and merely smiled at the flushed girl next to him.

”Fine! I quoted ‘Titanic’ at you. Are you happy now Lukas Patterson?” She asked and Luke smiled.

”Very much so m’lady.” He said in a feeble attempt at a sophisticated voice, which threw the two into laughing and wiggling around on the bed, which turned into light wrestling, until Julie ended up on top of Luke, pinning him down, to the bed. 

”Ha, I win.” She said, holding Luke’s wrists above his head and her legs on either side of him, straddling him, and leaning over him. 

”Yep, you definitely did win.” Luke breathed back, looking her over, as she pinned him down, out of breath from wrestling with her, and laughing so much, his side hurt.

It took Julie a few moments to realize the intimate position she was in with Luke, and she was about to move when her door opened and Flynn walked in, her phone in her hand. 

”Hey you two, I just got off the phone with Nick at the station and he said to tell you hi Julie and asked if you were ok. Also, he ran a check on Kristen and based on her credit card payments we saw, she has been following Sunset Curve across the country, on your tours, trying to get to you alone Luke.” She said, and Julie got off of Luke, sitting away from him, on her bed, legs over the edge.

”Of course she has been. Kristen was always at gigs drunk, to try and get me back after we broke up. Is there anything else?” Luke asked, the hints of blush receding from his cheeks as he talked to Flynn.

”Yeah, Nick called a dep and they are on the way to her hotel, to find her and take her in for questions about what happened at the ice rink. We won’t tell her that it was you, but an anonymous source who was there and witnessed the whole incident.” She said and Julie smiled at her roommate.

”See Luke? Flynn is a great cop, I told you that it would all be fine after she talked to her station.” Julie said and Luke smiled at her.

”Thanks Jules.” He said and Julie smile back at him, before leaning over and wrapping her arms around him and letting him pull her close, and not let go of her. 

”You know that I’ll always be here for you Luke? Right?” She asked and Luke pulled away, but only for a moment, kissing Julie’s forehead.

”Remember the day that you left and you jumped out of the truck, to give me one last hug?” He asked and Julie nodded into Luke’s chest.

”Yeah, I do. Why?” She asked and Luke sighed into her hair, and pulled her tighter to him.

”I wished that you hadn’t left and stayed. I really thought that you were jumping out of the truck because you wanted to stay with us. With me.” He said and Julie sighed into him.

”I wanted to stay too Luke. So fucking much I wanted to stay.” She said, and pulled away, only to look Luke right in the eyes.

”But I’m here now, and I’m not ever going to leave you. Not you, not Alex, and I physically can’t leave Reggie. Not ever.” She finished in a tone that was nearly above a whisper and almost impossible for Luke to hear, but he heard anyway. 

”I won’t leave you either Jules. I know I fucked up, but I promise never to leave you again.” He said and held her closer to his heart. 

”Not ever.” He whispered as he ran a hand over Julie’s shoulders, until they heard a knock on the door, and Julie raised her head.

”Come in.” She called and the door opened slowly.

”Hey Julie, can I talk to you about something?”

———————

Carrie stood at the door and looked at Julie, in the arms of Luke, a pleading look on her face.

”Um yeah, sure Carrie. Luke, do you mind if Carrie and I have a little girl’s chat?” Julie asked and the guitarist nodded, and stood up, leaving the room, as Carrie slipped in.

”In sorry if I was interrupting a moment with you and Muscles.” Carrie said and sat down on the bed next to Julie who raise an eyebrow.

”We’re just friends Carrie.” She said and Carrie chuckled.

”Apparently, but that’s beside the point. I’ll torture you about your boy drama later, but I’m having some of my own with a guy.” She said and Julie smiled, stepping right into dish mode. 

”Who is he? Is he cute? Is he nice? Will I like him?” She asked and Carrie put on the dreamy eyes, looking into space, like Alex did when he was talking to Julie about Willie. 

”Yeah, he’s amazing, but there’s a slight problem. He’s my best friend’s older brother.” She said and Julie froze at Carrie’s words.

”Wait, it’s Reggie?”

A nod from a shy Carrie and a fist pump from a satisfied with herself and twenty bucks richer Julie.

”Ha! I knew it! I knew that you two making heart eyes at each other wasn’t just friendly interactions. Alex, you owe me twenty bucks.” She said and pulled out her phone, to text the drummer her win. 

”Wait, you and Alex made a bet? On what?” Carrie asked and Julie shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

”On wether or not you and Reggie making heart eyes at each other was a crush, and who would tell who’s friend first. You can see who won.” Julie said and when she saw Carrie’s appalled face, she reeled back in.

”Besides the point of this conversation. Go on.” She said and Carrie brushed what had just happened aside, and continued.

”Well, I like him, but I don’t know if he likes me back. I don’t know what to do about it Julie.” Carrie said and Julie sighed, coming closer to her friend and smiling at her.

”Oh Carrie, Reggie likes you. I know he does because I know what he looks like when he likes a girl, and my big brother is smitten.” She said and Carrie smiled softly.

”You think?” 

”I know. Plus, you have nothing to worry about Carrie. You are beautiful, smart, you have a rockin’ bod, and you are funny. You make Reggie laugh. Just go and get him.” 

Carrie smiled and hugged Julie quickly, and stood up.

”Thanks Jules. I really needed that.” She said and left the room, leaving Julie alone. She sat in silence for a few moments before pulling out her phone, and sending a triumphant text to Alex about that twenty bucks

’I win Mercer. Pay up’

———————

Alex saw Luke leave Julie’s room as the movie played in the background. He and Willie were not paying any attention to the movie that was playing, making out right in front of Reggie and Carrie, until Carrie got up and walked away. Flynn was still in her room, and Alex was still stressed over Kristen assaulting Julie, but Willie knew just how to take his mind off it. 

He pulled away from his boyfriend, to see Luke plop down on the couch, next to Reggie, and cross his arms over his chest. 

”Well someone is grumpy. You ok there bro?” He asked and Luke shrugged his shoulders.

”Carrie just went into Julie’s room, to talk to her and they kicked me out.” He said and Willie snickered.

”Aww, Poor Luke couldn’t get his alone time with Julie.” Alex mocked, before being pulled back to Willie’s lips, as the skater claimed them as his own once again.

He and Willie had made their relationship official to the and and Julie’s friends two days after Carrie’s birthday party, when they had gone to Willie’s place together, and after that, they were almost inseparable, like you never saw one without the other. They kissed every chance they got and were the cutest couple at least in the eyes of everyone who knew. The guys were skeptical about bringing Trevor into knowing about their relationship, not knowing how he would react or what the media would say if word got out. 

None of that really mattered to either Alex or Willie as long as they had each other and the support of Julie, Flynn, Carrie, and the band. The two broke apart again for two reasons. One, that Carrie was walking out of Julie’s room, and two, that Alex’s phone dinged with a text message from Julie.

”Hold up babe.” Alex said and opened his phone, and read Julie’s text.

’I win Mercer. Pay up’

What was she talking about? Alex showed the text to Willie who shrugged before pointing to Carrie, who was standing in front of Reggie. Luke was at the counter, and Flynn had come out of her room while Alex and Willie were joined at the lips. 

”Reggie, can you pause the movie for a second? I wanted to ask you something, really important.” Carrie said and Reggie nodded ok and pressed pause on the movie.

”Start recording this Alex. It’s gonna get good.”

It was Julie, leaning across the back of the couch. Alex pulled his phone from his lap and shoved it in her face, eyebrows raised.

”What is this about?” He asked and Julie pushed his hand away.

”Just film and trust me when I say that it’s gonna be good and we’ll worth it.” She said and Alex shrugged, and started filming. 

“Reggie, I’ve really liked getting to know you ever since the club, and I’ve loved Sunset Curve since long before that, but these last few months have made me see you differently. I really like you Reggie and it’s ok if you don’t like me, but I thought that you should know.” Carrie said, shocking the entire room with her confession. 

Although, none of them were more shocked than Reggie, who went pale at Carrie’s confession to him, his eyes wide and mouth agape. 

”I don’t know what to say Carrie.” Reggie managed and Carrie visibly paled, even more than she had been already, and began to rant. 

”It’s ok Reggie, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t like me, it’s ok with me.” She said and began to walk away, only to be stopped by Reggie, grabbing her wrist, and turning her to face him, a smile on his face. 

”No, Carrie that’s not what I meant. I really do like you. Like, I like, like you and have for awhile, ever since your birthday party.” He said and Carrie lit up, smiling big and almost to nobody’s surprise, kissed Reggie in front of everyone. 

Alex was so close to catcalling before Willie put a hand over his boyfriend’s mouth, to keep him quiet. Julie gaped and Luke and Flynn were frozen in shock, while. Carrie and Reggie were blissfully making out without a care in the world, even in front of their best friends, and in Reggie’s case, sister. 

Carrie never wanted to part from kissing Reggie, but knew that she couldn’t go on in front of Alex, Willie, Julie, Luke, and Flynn. She slowly broke the kiss with a nip to Reggie’s bottom lip that she wanted to keep going. He opened his eyes and looked down at her, a smile on his face. 

”Wow, that was amazing.” He breathed and was interrupted by Julie pausing Alex’s phone, and whooping at her older brother.

”Fuck yes it was. That was so fucking hot.” She said and Carrie went beet red, burrowing her face into Reggie’s white shirt. 

”Come on Care Bear, let’s go somewhere else.” Reggie said and took Carrie’s hand in his. The two went to Carrie’s room and shut the door, with the rest of the group chattering. 

”Send me that video Alex and you owe me a twenty for the bet.” Julie said as Alex dug a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to her. Julie tucked it into her pocket and smiled smugly at Alex.

She only got her moment of triumph for a few seconds before she felt a familiar hand close around hers, and like lightning, pair of lips against hers, soft and sweet. 

Luke was kissing her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dunn Dunn Duhhnnnn!!!
> 
> Also, Flynn is a cop, with her sass it was a given.
> 
> Also Willex needs to happen in season 2.
> 
> Carrie and Reggie are a thing now.
> 
> And Luke kissed Julie!!!
> 
> 🤗🤗🤗


	10. Chasing mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Luke kisses Julie stuff happens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the kiss.
> 
> Alex freaks out when he can't find Luke the next day.
> 
> The gang searches for Luke in the city. 
> 
> A little angst and sad fluff

The only thing that Luke think about was her lips, he didn't know why he kissed her, but he just did.   
  


It was a few seconds, before Luke realized she wasn’t kissing back, but she was stuck, but she was in shock, freaked out. Luke’s brain took a few seconds to catch up to reality, and when he did, he was met with a reality that had great things, but it also had very big consequences.

‘Oh shit I’m kissing Julie, shit shit shit!’

Luke pulled away, looking down at her flustered face, her cheeks are red, her eyes blown wide, her lips a bright red, from his lips. She was frozen in shock, as was pretty much the rest of the group in the apartment. Luke looked around, realizing he was cornered, and had just surged and kissed Julie.

Luke looked around, and then back at Julie, the woman speechless, and all of her after kissing glory, if that was even a thing Luke thought.

”I-I have to go.”

Luke said, turned around, grabbed his flannel, keys, and phone, and was out the door. He walked down the hall of the apartment thinking to himself, how stupid it was that he tried to kiss Julie, it’s just been getting caught up in the moment right? He had just been caught up in Carrie and Reggie getting together, bad to be it, right?

”I’m such a goddamn idiot.”

Luke cursed himself as he got into his car, and put the key into the ignition. Driving home that night, Luke spotted a club, a little bit to his right. Clubbing was one of the things that Luke used to do to try and get over issues, but he had one of his life. Julie had been one of them at some point after he had learned of Reggie, losing contact with her.

He drove it to the club parking lot, parked his car, and went up to the door. He showed the guy his ID and went in, even though he knew it was a stupid idea, he would probably get drunk and take home some stripper, Luke’s rational mind had been taken away, and was replaced by a loop wanting to get drunk and forget Julie, just for a little while and just for the night. 

——————

Julie meanwhile, was in shock to see the least, she had been gloating to Alex one second, and then Luke and laid one on her the second after that. She still remembered how his lips felt against hers. How soft they were, and how gentle it was, as he gently pressed his lips on hers, slight nudge of his tongue trying to pry her mouth open.

She hadn't even kissed back, she hadn’t even responded to anything that he had done. When he pulled away, and left the apartment without a second to spare, or a glance at her, Julie was even more confused. She couldn't really think for the rest of the night, even as Reggie and Carrie were heard in Carrie's room, squeaking the bed, and Flynn was still watching TV, after coming out her room, oblivious to her best friend's state of shock. Julie couldn't even get support from Alex, because of his boyfriend not caring, and sucking the drummer's tongue down his throat for the rest if the night, until Flynn kicked the couple off of the couch and out of the apartment. She was in bed soon after and Julie went to bed a few minutes after her, Reggie spending the night in Carrie's bed, and coming out in the morning, pink and red hickeys shamelessly spread across his and Carrie's skin the next morning, when Julie came out of her room with her hair in a messy bun and her robe tied around her. 

"Morning Juliebird, how did you sleep last night?"

Reggie asked and Julie merely groaned in response, grabbing the coffeepot and pouring herself a cup of coffee. Carrie noticed her friend's bed morning mood and handed her a banana. Julie grunted and took the fruit from Carrie and turned, to open the fridge and get out some half and half for her coffee just as Flynn walked into the kitchen, spotting Reggie and Carrie. 

"Did you two have any idea how loud you were being last night? I had to sleep with earmuffs on so that I didn't hear the two of you."

She asked and Julie snorted into her coffee, taking a large bite of her banana. Carrie and Reggie both flushed pink, and busied themselves with doing anything so that they wouldn't have to look a smug Julie or Flynn in the eyes. Then, out of the blue, Julie's phone rang, and she picked it up, seeing the Caller ID for Alex, a picture of the drummer getting ice cream shoved on his face at the pier by Luke. Julie held her phone up to her ear and answered the call, only to have Alex start shouting at her from the other end. 

"Julie, I need your help! If Reggie and Carrie are done fucking put Reggie on speakerphone right now. We have a development at Casa de Sunset Curve and I need your help."

Alex said, and Julie fearing the worst took her phone away from her ear and put it on the speakerphone. She then looked down at it and Alex started talking again in his anxious voice. 

"Is he there? Can he hear me?"

Alex asked and Julie nodded, Reggie, Carrie, and Flynn all turning around to see who was on the phone with Julie. When they all heard the anxious voice and who it belonged to, they all dropped what they were doing, and all cornered around the counter where Julie sat. Leaning over the counter at the phone and Alex, Reggie spoke up.

"What's up bro? Are you ok? Where are Luke and Willie?"

He asked and learned fast that asking where Luke was, was the most wrong thing that he could say at the moment. Alex began to pace in the middle of whatever room her was in. 

"That's just it Reg, Luke's gone! He's not here. When Willie and I got back last night, we got busy and didn't notice really, but when I woke up this morning and left Willie in bed, to make breakfast I went into Luke's room to ask him if he was hungry and he wasn't there! I tried calling, I tried texting, I even tried emailing but nada, and I'm really worried about him."

Alex said and Julie looked up at Reggie who was standing across the counter from her, his face also looking worried for Luke and his safety. Carrie and Flynn also looked concerned and Flynn was already pulling out her phone and talking to Alex.

"It's Flynn Alex, do you need me to make a call somewhere? I could send a patrol car out to look for his car if you give me a picture of it." 

She said and Julie sighed, looking over at her friend, thanking every god in existence that Flynn was willing to step in and help Luke, even if he was a bit of a dick and impulsive sometimes. Alex meanwhile was thinking on the other line because he was silent but the sounds of his nervous pacing could still be heard through the phone. 

"I think so, and I can take my car with Willie and we can check down by the park and see if we find him. Jules, can you, Carrie, and Reg take a car and go anywhere you think Luke might be? Flynn can take south clubs and Reg and Carrie can take north clubs, we can all stay on the phone while we look or one of us can call if we find him or his car. Does that seem cool for everyone?"

Alex asked and Carrie grunted, looking over at Reggie who looked a little on edge. He looked over at Julie and Flynn who both shrugged and looked confused while Reggie heard Alex's pacing get louder. 

"Hey 'Lex, I kinda promised Carrie that we would go on a date later today, can we maybe do this as fast as we can and have Willie cover our searching shift so that we can go out?"

Reggie asked and Alex rolled his eyes on the other line and even though Reggie and the others couldn't see it, they all knew what the drummer was doing with his face on the other line. 

"Fine, after an hour and a half of searching, if we don't find Luke, Willie can take over for you. Now if we're all in agreement, I'd like to go and find my friend before he gets hurt."

Alex said and everybody voiced their approvals, Julie getting off of the phone with Alex and the rest of the people in the apartment went to get ready for the driving through the city to find Luke. Julie came out in a pair of cargo pants, winter boots, and a white shirt under her yellow 'Happy' sweater, grabbing her winter coat and pulling it on, she followed a leather clad and booted Reggie, a fluffy pink down coated and black legging, white winter booted Carrie, and an in uniform and navy blue coated Flynn out the door, and all to each of their cars. Julie got into Flynn's personal car, while her friend got into her cruiser, and Carrie joined Reggie in his car and they all set off in opposite directions. While Reggie and Carrie drove up to the clubs in the northern part of the city, and Flynn took the southern ones, Julie drove down and along the coast and the harbor. She knew that Alex was checking Central Park and the Time's Square area while Willie was in the suburbs of the city, and the more sketchy places, but he had Nick, Flynn's friend from the station close to him, and that was the only reason that Alex was ok with his boyfriend going to that area. 

When it had been almost an hour and they still hadn't found Luke, Julie was starting to worry that she might never see him again. It hurt her heart of the possibility of Luke not being in her life was back, just like when she had moved away. Only this time it hit her hard and heavy and more intense as an adult that he could die and that would be it, he would be gone and she would've never gotten to talk to him about the kiss. Even though Julie didn't want to think like that, her head kept on going right back to it and haunting her until she pulled over in front of a cargo ship dock, and leaned her head against her steering wheel and just started to silently cry. 

That is until her phone started to ring and she looked over at it. The Caller ID was Reggie's and it was a photo of the two of them attempting to make a chocolate cake for Carlos's birthday party with Alex and Luke. The younger versions of Luke and Alex were in the background, with melted chocolate on their fingers and Alex was attempting to smear it all over Luke's face and he had succeeded as the boy's face was covered in melted chocolate on his cheeks, forehead, lips, and hands while Julie and Reggie were mixing cake batter and Reggie was trying to get all of it into the baking pan as Julie was scraping it in with a plastic spatula while Ray took the photo. The older Julie picked up her phone and answered the call, hearing her brother's voice over the phone almost instantly and it was full of life and it's usual Reggie buzz.

"Hey Reggie, did you find Luke yet?"

"No we didn't, but good news! Carrie and I found his car at a club called HGC in the northern part of town, and we just called Flynn and she's on her way and so are Willie and Alex."

"I'll be right there. I'm on my way right now. Bye." 

Julie said and hung up the phone, putting the car into gear and driving down the roads until she hit a few minutes of traffic, only to get through fairly quickly and be at the club with the address that Reggie sent her about twenty minutes later. She pulled up at the club's parking lot and found Reggie and Carrie parked on the left side of Luke's black sports car, and standing next to it. Flynn seemed to have pulled up in her cruiser a few seconds before Julie as she was just getting out as Julie pulled up. Julie parked on the right side of Luke's car and got out just as Willie pulled up, followed behind by Alex who parked as fast as he could and when Willie got out of his car, he was attacked by a touchy Alex. 

"OK, let's go in and see if we can get any information about where he is because it's clear that Luke left."

Flynn said and lead the group in as the cop, showing the bartender her badge and ID and sitting the group down at the bar in front of the guy who looked to be Hispanic. 

"OK here's the deal dude, we're looking for our friend Luke. He must have come in here last night because his car is still here, and we were wondering when he left and or who he left with? If you don't tell us then I have the right to look at your security cameras and find him because we are all really worried about him, so what can you tell us?"

Flynn asked and the bartender nodded his head with a smile and flung the towel he was holding over his shoulder and leaned on the counter and looked at the rest of the group. 

"Sure thing officer. The guy came in last night with the saddest look I'd ever seen and sat at the bar. He knocked two shots down within five seconds, and sat here for like two hours until this group of women came in and sat next to him at the bar. One of them was a busty tanned blue eyed blonde and she for sure looking for someone to take home, and then the guy got two more shots, this time as whiskey and not tequilla. Busty Blonde noticed this and started coming onto him, ordering him two more whiskey shots and his didn't complain. They started chatting and then dancing, and then next thing I knew, the guy threw a fifty on the counter for him and blonde and they were out the door."

The bartender said and Julie went pale, even more than she had been when she realized what blonde the bartender was talking about and her gut began to twist and churn.

"Kristen."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kristen got loose from the cops again, seduced Drunk Luke and took him home with her and left his car at the HGC. 
> 
> Julie is scared for him.
> 
> Flynn is a badass cop and is gonna find Luke.
> 
> Don't worry, my boy is gonna be safe, he's just drunk


End file.
